Not that that has ever stopped me from saying it anyway. Just more of the same around here. Beers at Cheap Charlies and Mango’s last night. A nice hike with the Wednesday group this morning, but I’ll post about that tomorrow. So, what does that leave?

Short ribs in the crockpot and cornbread muffins in the oven. I’ll let you know how that turns out when they’re done.

And that leaves Alicia. Not much to say about her either. She started messaging me last night. I actually don’t recall adding her but we have some mutual friends so I guess I did. Anyway, she says she is 22 with no kids and is looking for a serious relationship. I told her I was 65 with grown kids and a granddaughter just a few years younger than her. She told me she likes guys my age. That whole age is just a number thing. Actually, I had no real interest but was bored sitting at the bar alone so I did the chat thing.

I’m going to leave it there for now.

Oh, and for some unfathomable reason, WordPress is throwing all the comments here into moderation, including mine. I really enjoy the feedback from my readers, so don’t worry–nothing’s changed. I check the queue regularly and will continue to approve any and all comments. Say your piece without restraint!

More to come tomorrow.

…from a mundane mind.

Let me tell you about the last 24 hours. Nothing special, nothing exciting, I can promise you that. But sometimes reflecting on “just another day in the life” can provide a deeper understanding of what is truly important and insights into how to make the most of the blessings that come from being alive. Other times these reflections provide fodder for another boring blog post here at LTG. And honestly, isn’t that why you are here?

Tuesday morning is when I do my weekly grocery shopping. That in and of itself constitutes a break from my regular routine. Since I can’t get my morning steps in anyway, I just blow off my daily goal and give myself a break. Most of the time I still manage to achieve the weekly 20,000+ step average I strive for.

I’ve been frustrated in my shopping excursions at the Royal supermarket for the past several weeks as many of the items I seek have continually been out of stock. I’m not sure what’s going on or whether it is somehow COVID related, but damn, give me a break. How do you not have Coke Zero?

In an effort to find some relief from my frustration I had my driver take me to the Pure Gold supermarket which is also located on the old Navy base. They had a couple of items I wanted but their frozen foods were very limited and you guessed it, no Coke Zero. From Pure Gold we moved on to the old Royal store located nearby. I always shopped here before the new Royal opened closer to home. Again, they had some things I hadn’t been able to find, but not the stuff I wanted most. And still no Coke Zero.

When I got back home I cooked me up some lunch, Mexican style.

After my meal, I wrote up yesterday’s Hash post then took a refreshing nap. When I awoke I headed into Barretto to the vape shop to get some supplies. They too didn’t have exactly what I needed but promised to have some sent over from another store. We’ll see.

Since it was only four o clock I wandered over to the salon where I get my haircut and had me a long overdue foot spa.

She did a good job scraping off all that dead skin and clipping my toenails. I gave her a 100 peso tip on a 245 peso bill, but that wasn’t enough to put a smile on her sullen face. Oh well, I tried.

Back out on the street and wondered where to go next. I figured it would involve beer drinking and since Cheap Charlies was nearby, that’s where I started.

I had three (or was it four?) Zero’s and bought one lady drink for my waitress. These days I actually prefer to drink alone most of the time. I know the girls need those drink commissions though, so I will usually spring for one or two, then stick a generous tip down their blouse.

Next, I moved on up the highway to my regular haunt, Mangos. I had a few more beachside beers and enjoyed another sunset.

Stumbled on home, no wait, I took a trike, had some leftover burritos, mixed up a batch of strawberry smoothies, and was in bed before 9 p.m. Yeah, I’m living a life of sheer excitement, ain’t I?

Back to normal this morning. A good long, but boring, street walk in Barretto followed by a beach walk in Baloy. We took it easy because Scott is recovering from some unknown illness. Coincidentally or not, we did have three American expats in Barretto allegedly test positive for Corona this week. I say allegedly because all three were asymptomatic and were only tested for the purpose of getting travel documents back to the states. It seems from what I’ve been reading there are a whole lot of false positives at these testing centers. And this being the Philippines and all I don’t have a lot of confidence that whatever procedures they are using are up to standard. Anyway, I’m doing well health-wise so far and I hope to keep it that way.

A couple after walk beers at Cheap Charlies, then home for a nap, and now I’ve almost completed today’s blog entry. It’s a tough life I know, but someone has to do it!

Before I go let me share some gems I found out there on the internets, including this quote from one of my favorites–Charles Bukowski:

And I still have my sense of humor, such as it is:

Alright, well, these are serious times I guess and that means politics can’t be ignored. I can agree with this sentiment:

Anyway, I’m not here to argue or try and change your mind. Mine is made up though. There is peace in that.

And I found out a long time ago
What a woman can do to your soul.
Oh, but she can’t take you anyway,
You don’t already know how to go.

And I got a peaceful easy feeling.
And I know you won’t let me down
‘Cause I’m already standing on the ground.

I get this feeling I may know you
As a lover and a friend.
But this voice keeps whispering in my other ear,
Tells me I may never see you again.

‘Cause I get a peaceful easy feeling.
And I know you won’t let me down
‘Cause I’m already standing
I’m already standing
Yes, I’m already standing on the ground

Taking a moment today to remember all those who perished. Especially heroes like James Raymond Coyle and Samuel Oitice.

You live on in our memories and your sacrifices are not forgotten.

September 2nd that is. Here’s how it went down.

I was tasked with picking the trail for our Wednesday morning hiking group. I opted to go up the mountain from the Barretto side behind Angels Bakery. It had been some time since I’d been up that way and the concern was that the thatch grass would be out of control this time of year and obscuring the trail. My workaround was to take a path that’s a little lower with lots of tree cover, hence less grass. It worked for most of the climb, but the last portion up top was indeed covered in grass. The trail was still discernable though. After that, we intersected with My Bitch and followed that path to its terminus at Rizal Extension. We next walked to the end of Rizal, then followed Abra street back around to the National highway. At that point it started raining so we had a wet hike to Cheap Charlies and our scheduled Hash mismanagement meeting. 7K all told.

So, while we are having our meeting at Cheap Charlies, I get a message from “Janey”. She wanted to come there to see her girlfriends but wanted to be sure I was okay with that. I told her she could go anywhere she wanted without concern over my presence. Then she said she had had a big fight with her boyfriend and wanted to get drunk. She asked if I would buy her a tequila shot and I responded of course. She came in a little later and joined her friends (the girlfriends of other Hashers).

When our meeting was over, Janey beckoned me over to the stool beside her. I sat with her and had a beer then told her I needed to head home. I was tired after the hike and needed a nap. So we said our goodbyes and I left.

After my nap, there was another message from Janey asking me to join the group at BarCelona. I had mixed feelings about that and gave a non-committal answer saying I hadn’t showered yet. She responded she would wait for me there. As I showered I tried to decide what to do. On the one hand, this was exactly the situation I wanted to avoid–being her rebound boyfriend. On the other hand, I was going to go out anyway, and since I purport to be her friend I probably ought to act like it and accept her invitation. Frankly, it was the first time in weeks that she had even pretended to want to see me. So, I wound up going to BarCelona.

As I presumed would be the case, Janey was quite intoxicated when I arrived. I sat at the bar, across the aisle from the window seats she and her friends occupied. Their boyfriends had left them there while they pursued a guy’s night out. I had a couple of beers and a little chat, but clearly Janey needed to quit drinking while she could still stand. The problem is drunks rarely grasp that fact. Then Janey suggested to her friends that they buy a bottle of tequila and drink it at her house. I thought that was an excellent plan and even gave her the money to pay for it. So, I thought it was all decided and then suddenly another round of drinks arrived. That pissed me off and I didn’t hide it well I suppose. I told Janey she was being foolish and got up to pay my tab. I guess the girls got my message as they left while I was waiting to pay. When I got downstairs the girls were still there waiting outside. One of them said Janey wanted to come home with me. I responded that I wasn’t taking a drunk girl home, said my goodbyes, and left.

So, how about that? I stuck to my guns and maintained my singleness posture and I also showed some moral character by not taking advantage of a woman under the influence of alcohol. I’d call that progress!

And yes, I’ve done some second-guessing of myself during my longer than normal two-hour walk today. I need more time alone though before I’m ready to even consider entering a relationship.

And that’s where things stand as of now.

It was hot out on the trail today. Blazing hot. Four bottles of water hot. We cut short our planned hike but still wound up with a 10K morning. A different way (for me) up the big mountain and a brand new way down for all of us–there was no trail so we just blazed our way the best we could. Got a little dicey in places, but made it to the bottom in one piece.

In other news, I came across this Kevin James short film and it was really funny in a sad way. Less than two minutes long, give it a watch!

And I’ll leave you with this Wuhan virus moment:

Anyway, it was a good day. I’ve got enough beer here at home to get me through the night so I reckon I will pop one open and enjoy some Game of Thrones.

Which reminds me. Did anyone else notice the parallels between some current events and the sad demise of Ned Stark? Michael Flynn is no traitor but he gets railroaded on bullshit charges. He finally pleads guilty to keep his son from being prosecuted on another made up charge (the bogus Logan Act). Ned was an honest man too and confessed to a crime he didn’t commit to protect his children. At least Flynn didn’t lose his head. Those damn Lannister’s are a lot like Hillary, aren’t they?

Sad news. I got a call this morning from the manager of the Speakeasy informing me that the bar was closing down, effective immediately. That’s the last place I knew where I could enjoy a beer. I reckon henceforth I’ll be drinking at home. While supplies last anyway.

I guess I’m not all that surprised. I’m told the owner just decided the risk wasn’t worth it. I’ll confess that I screwed up the other day and really got reamed by the manager for my actions. My friend Jim from the walks had sent me a message about going to the Speakeasy. I knew he’d been there before so I assumed it would be alright if he were with me. We were supposed to meet at 3:30 on the highway and I’d guide him to the back way from the beach. He was a no-show so I went on without him. Later while I’m in the bar I get a message that he’s outside. So I go out and Jim’s there with his girlfriend and another guy. The manager was livid. I stammered an apology but I expected he was going to throw us all out. He eventually had us go inside the bar and then recited the rules again to our group. I really felt like shit about it.

So, that was Saturday. Sunday was the total lockdown day. I was back in the bar yesterday and everything did seem fine. I bought the manager a couple of beers and we chatted. When I left there was a plan for me to return today and bring brownies to celebrate the birthday of a waitress. And then the call this morning to announce the closing. Part of me wonders if I’ve just been banned, but maybe I’m being paranoid. Either way, it’s over for me.

And oh yeah, the mayor of Olongapo has just announced that he’s adding Saturday to the business closures for “disinfecting”. A total lockdown weekend is in store. That’s not a good omen for the quarantine being lifted on the 30th.

I foresee some television binge-watching in my future. That should be exciting!

Damn it to hell.

Living in a plague is just an intensified way of living. It merely unveils the radical uncertainty of life that is already here, and puts it into far sharper focus. We will all die one day, and we will almost all get sick at some point in our lives; none of this makes sense on its own (especially the dying part). The trick, as the great religions teach us, is counterintuitive: not to seize control, but to gain some balance and even serenity in absorbing what you can’t.”

Andrew Sullivan “How to Survive a Plague”

Well, I’m just rolling with it all one day at a time. Yesterday I found an open restaurant that is still permitting sit down dining.

And yes, of course, they were also serving beer. I had several in fact. A couple other of expat diners as well and we enjoyed some chat with our brews. One guy just moved here a couple of weeks ago (talk about bad timing!) and it turns out he is a Hasher as well. Of course, he won’t get to do a Subic Hash until the quarantine is lifted, but he’s looking forward to it.

A very nice late afternoon view from my beachside dining/drinking vantage point:

It was a pretty pleasant evening all and all, and I left in plenty of time to make it home prior to the 8 p.m. curfew. In fact, I plan to go back again this evening. It only seems fair and right to support a business that has elected to stay open during these troubling times. And in case you are wondering, all of us patrons were in fact keeping the recommended distance from one another. I’m not putting myself or others at risk.

Another day without any symptoms indicating the Wuhan virus has invaded my body. I’ve incorporated taking a morning temperature check along with my other stats. 35.6 C today. BP a little higher than normal at 137/94, but a good resting heart rate of 61 bpm. So far, so good.

Today is the one year anniversary of my adoption of Lucky.

I kept Lucky outside until the meds cleared up the mange which the vet told me was highly contagious. Once he was healthy I moved him inside with his stepbrother and best buddy, Buddy.

No Hash today, but Scott (Pubic Head) joined me for a pleasant 7K hike this morning. Scott’s been Hashing here for going on 15 years now, so he pretty much knows all the trails. It is always nice to have him guide me on a new path.

I had breakfast at the unnamed restaurant, then headed out to meet Scott at our rendevous point in Marian Hills.

For today’s “interesting” photo I’ll offer up something that reminds of a quaint and simpler time, long before the nightmare of the current pandemic.

Here’s a shot of a guy that is technically in violation of the quarantine restrictions, but he has good intentions and takes appropriate steps to avoid contracting or spreading the dreaded virus from China.

I try to avoid trite phrases like a plague, but I guess it’s always darkest before the dawn. Or maybe things just get worse before they get better?

Well, I am kidding for the most part. I’ve continued to be inconvenienced in a pain in the ass kind of way, but lots of people are truly beginning to feel the hurt from this so-called quarantine. I got my first “I’m hungry” message this morning from one of the bar girls at Alley Cats. I know she has an infant and a couple of other kids at home as well. I advised her to visit her Barangay office, they are supposed to be providing assistance to those in need. I’d throw her a little cash but she’s on the far side of Castillejos and there is really no convenient way to get it to her. I just share this point to keep my so-called problems in perspective.

Anyway, I had my driver come pick me up for some grocery shopping at the WalterMart in Subic town. I wanted to drop my laundry off but the shop owner told me she was being forced to close. So I guess my clothes are going to have to be cleaned the old-fashioned way–by hand. Using the hands of my domestic helpers of course. Oh well.

Donnie driver dropped me off and had me walk through the checkpoint going into Subic. Apparently they question more than one person in a vehicle. I passed through on foot with only a temperature check–36c. I guess that makes me cooler than normal. We arrived at the grocery store about twenty minutes before it opened and joined the queue at the main door.

Inside the shopping mall, all the shops were closed except for the drug store and the grocery store. There were only letting like fifteen customers inside the WalterMart at a time. The rest of us lined up waiting our turn our enter.

This was my first time inside the WalterMart grocery. It was okay I suppose. Wasn’t real impressed with the fresh veggies available and decided to buy my meat at the market in Barretto. Picked up about a hundred bucks worth of stuff though, including a case of beer.

I walked through the checkpoint again on the way home and Barretto didn’t care enough to take my temperature. Once I offloaded the groceries, I hoofed it over to the Barretto Barangay office to find out about getting one of those quarantine passes. They asked where I lived and I told them Alta Vista. Someone knew that part of the subdivision is in the San Isidro Barangay, but I told them my Alien ID Card says I live in Barretto. I was told that they are being delivered one card per household and I’d have to wait for a delivery. They did take my phone number.

So, the Barangay also confirmed that the “enhanced quarantine” will escalate to a “lockdown” effective Monday. Apparently you can’t be outside without the pass and only then for food and meds. I’m somewhat concerned because I can’t actually exit Alta Vista without entering Barretto. I’ve heard nothing at all from San Isidro (a small and very rural Barangay) about what procedures they are using to issue the passes. I’ll probably need to go by the office in San Isidro and inquire if I can’t finagle a pass from Barretto. Oh boy, at least I won’t go hungry for a while.

We’ll see what happens as things progress. I don’t want to be a jackass about it, but I can be stubborn as a mule if need be. Or deported.

…keeps on turning. And so the Journey continues. *ahem*

More of the same around here. Nothing wrong with that I suppose.

Something “interesting” from yesterday’s walk:

I couldn’t feel the burn yesterday, but I could sure as hell see it.

Well, they warned us that if Trump wasn’t impeached he would have limitless power. And now he’s gone and changed the twenty-dollar bill into a 2020 note.

And what are you doing for Valentine’s Day?

I’m actually going to return to Baguio City for the Valentine’s run with the La Union Hash House Harriers.

And that’s all I’ve got for today boys and girls. Thanks for dropping by!

I don’t know, maybe I’m just turning into the stereotypical grumpy old man. Or maybe I’m just at a stage in life where I’m going to do whatever I want and not give a damn what anyone else does. More precisely, I’m going to NOT do what I don’t want to do without apology.

Take yesterday’s Hash for example. The Hare was Vienna Sausage (Günter) so I had every expectation it was going to be a fucked up trail. Günter is all about the steeper and higher the better. I called him out on it once and he responded: “This is nothing like the Alps”. I, therefore, determined going in that I’d decide which part, if any, of his trail I’d hike. To me, if it ain’t fun then what’s the point?

So it turned out being even worse than I feared. He was starting the trail in Olongapo City and taking the “stairway to heaven” to the top of the mountain. That’s 555 stairsteps if you are counting. Okay, I’ve climbed them before and it was miserable. But what I really couldn’t countenance was the long-ass ride out there in the overcrowded Hashmobile. And once you are in Olongapo, there is no shortcut back to our “on-home” at Johan’s on Baloy Beach. So, I just shook my head and said “nope” and went off to do my own trail.

I’ve decided to Hare more frequently, maybe as much as once a month. I figure that way I will at least have the kind of trail that I enjoy more frequently. If the die-hards and masochists don’t like it, too fuckin’ bad. So I have my next trail in mind already and took advantage of my freedom yesterday to do some scouting. I know where I want to go up (yeah, I don’t mind a reasonable climb) but wasn’t sure how to get there. Instead, I went from the back, figuring it would be easier to find a way down. And it worked!

So, now I’ve got the beginning and middle of my trail pretty much figured out. Need to scout where I’m bringing it down and see how much more distance I may need to add, but I’ve got some ideas for that as well.

Anyway, I got back to our on-home around 5:00 and was really surprised that none of the runners doing the Hare’s trail had arrived yet. That’s pretty unusual, given that it had been an hour and a half since departure. Plus, Hash ethos doesn’t allow anyone to partake in the free beer until the first runner has returned. It was a good 20 more minutes before someone finally made it back. And then I enjoyed my ice-cold Zeros and watched my fellow Hashers straggle in.

By most accounts, the trail was a disaster which made me feel vindicated in my decision not to participate. Some of the guys actually jumped out of the truck on the way because traffic was so heavy. Others who did the stairs had no desire to stay on trail afterward and came back down the mountain into Barretto at the first opportunity. I don’t know if anyone actually did the whole trail, but once again we had people getting back after sundown. That’s a big fail in my book.

Günter asked me later if I had done any of his trail. I told him honestly that while I respect the Hare’s prerogative, I had no desire to take a long truck ride in heavy traffic. I also pointed out that the short days this time of year should be factored into how long the trail is. He looked a little snake bit, so I’m guessing he had gotten similar feedback from others. Anyway, we’ll see if he learned anything come next month I suppose.

And that’s how I roll these days. Get off my lawn, whippersnapper!

Another robbery at the house last night. I woke up at 0400 to the loud voice of one of my domestic helpers. From the sound of it, I thought maybe she was just coming in after a night of hard-drinking. When I finally got up to tell her to quiet down she exclaimed: “I was robbed!”

The other domestic helper came out of the bedroom and said it was warm so she had opened her bedroom window (both workers share the same room). The culprits (there were three of them) climbed onto the roof of the downstairs bathroom and tried to enter through the open window. Gina woke up, saw them, and began yelling. They took off but not before grabbing Teri’s phone. That’s all they got this time.

The security guys came out and did a perimeter search. Came back with a baseball cap, a pair of slippers, and a bag of coins. These were apparently dropped by the thieves as they fled. Turns out there was another robbery in the neighborhood earlier last night and the speculation was the coins had been taken from that house.

The guards pleaded with me not to tell my landlord (who also employs them) because they were threatened with termination after the earlier robberies. Well, I don’t blame the security guards, they can’t be everywhere. And since the subdivision is not fenced anyone can enter without using the front gate. It’s Christmas season and according to lawyer fighting criminal defense claims, here and property crimes always increase as folks turn into wannabe Robin Hoods. They are poor and anyone living in Alta Vista must be rich.

I guess the only positive is that my enhanced downstairs security measures seemed to have worked as intended. When you’ve got the burglars climbing on the roof to get in that’s a sign of improvement. Now I’ll work to secure the upstairs windows better and break down and buy some outside CCTV cameras. I need to make sure my house isn’t the softest target around.

Typhoon Eisoy blew threw town last night. No damage, just some rain, wind, and the requisite power outage that comes when there is more than a breeze. Went to bed in the dark but when I woke up to pee the power was back on. I was pleasantly surprised at the quick fix.

Fixin’ to head on out to La Union. Five other Hashers will be sharing space in my driver’s Toyota van. Done it before and it’s not uncomfortable, but then again, I’m riding shotgun. That’s the privilege that comes with paying.

Had a nice chat with Ilene this morning, she wanted to be reminded what her new Hash name is and what it means. I gave her the generic definition of hot to trot–“ready and eager to engage in an activity” but also felt obligated to mention that the context it is most often regarding sexual activity. She seemed okay with that and mentioned she was happy she didn’t get one of the crude/rude names our kennel is famous for. She also shared this photo from Monday’s naming ritual:

During our conversation this morning Ilene mentioned she has two kids, girls aged 14 and 10. Well, that should be enough for me to keep her firmly in the “just friends” category. Been there, done that, got the fatherhood t-shirt already.

So, that’s it for now. I’ll keep y’all posted on my impressions of La Union and my first ever Haggis Hash.

I’m going to be the Hare for Monday’s Hash, so me and my co-Hare Pubic Head were out scouting around for a proper trail this morning. My Girlfriend’s A Lesbian also tagged along so he could see the science behind a successful Hash.

We had gone out a couple of weeks ago thinking we’d incorporate the Black Rock climb into our trail but found the conditions unsuitable. And then in an unfortunate coincidence, Leech My Nuggets did a trail in the same area, including Black Rock, the very next week. So, our challenge now included finding some new terrain for our Hashers to traverse. I think we accomplished that.

We’ll go back out on Monday morning to lay powder and chalk to mark the trail. It should be challenging without being overly difficult or dangerous. Probably the best thing going for it is that we will be taking paths that haven’t been recently Hashed. That always makes it a bit more interesting. And my attitude is that if the kennel doesn’t like the trail, fuck ’em!

Justin leaves in the morning for Manila. Hopefully the Korean embassy there will get his new work visa processed in the promised three days. He’ll then return to Barretto for a couple of days before departing for Korea next Saturday.

And so it goes.

Life in the Philippines is pretty much okay for me overall. The only real disappointment has been that I haven’t found love here. Of course, I haven’t been looking all that hard either. The few Filipinas I’ve met have proven to be disappointments, but I’ll take the blame there as well. Fact is, I’m just not willing to put my heart on the line which is a necessary prerequisite for engaging in a meaningful relationship. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that.

Anyway, over at Kevin Kim’s walking blog, he provided some great insights on overcoming inertia and gravity and laziness.

Dr. M. Scott Peck, in his pop-psych classic The Road Less Traveled, argued that the most basic human character flaw is laziness. If there can be said to be a “physics of the spirit,” then concepts like gravity and inertia would apply to spiritual matters. Laziness is a function of both spiritual gravity and spiritual inertia: gravity, insofar as the human tendency is to find the downward path of least resistance; and inertia, insofar as the human character resists switching tracks once it decides on a certain course of thought and action. Laziness, then, was the devil on one of my shoulders today. It’s the devil that always tells me I can sleep another 40 minutes when my phone’s alarm sounds at 5 a.m. It’s the devil that makes me think, now and then, about how nice it’d be just to take a bus back to Seoul and spend the rest of my break lazing around in my apartment with nobody else the wiser.

I can totally relate. Lately, it seems I have to push myself to avoid taking the easy trail rather than the mountain walk. I’ve always got some legitimate rationale for doing so, but I’m likely just making excuses for my inherent laziness. It occurs to me that this logic probably applies to my love life as well. In taking the easy and safe path I’m missing out on the breathtaking vistas that true love might show me. I don’t know, my fall back argument that there are worse things than being alone still resonates. I reckon I’ll just wait and see what happens next.

In the meantime, I’ve still got my walking to keep me company. And sometimes I’m not even walking alone. Here are some shots from Wednesday’s hike.

I’m happy to report that I did not short cut the trail this week, telling the devils on my shoulders to shut the fuck up. There were a couple of times during the walk that I had to overcome some gravity, but I got it done.

I’ve been hanging out a Cheap Charlies quite a bit of late. Both me and the nephew enjoy the views and it is hard to resist our favorite bargirls, Maya and Rosemarie. Speaking of views, here’s one from last night:

And the latest news on the owner of Cheap Charlies doesn’t sound good to me:

1. He’s had a massive stroke. It’s left him totally paralyzed on the right side and aphasic (unable to speak).
2. He had a massive bleed which caused a subdural hematoma that required opening his skull to drain the blood.
3. He has additional medical problems; most of which are under control. These include hypertension, renal failure, possible diabetes and pulmonary congestion. The congestion is troubling as he has lots of sputum that must be suctioned regularly.
4. The prognosis is not promising. Much will depend on his resolve. Strokes often cause severe depression whereby the patient loses the will to work with their physical and speech therapists and don’t recover. The best thing that could happen is he becomes well enough to travel back to Scotland. Tim tells me his sister is a nurse practitioner who specializes in stroke recovery.
5. Tim’s handling all the bills and doing a great job stepping up to the plate. Graham’s bills are going to be significant. 

At least all the money I’m spending on beer is going to a good cause. It does put my meaningless problems in perspective. Get well soon!

I’ve had it to here
Bein’ where love’s a small word
Part-time thing, paper ring
I know it’s been done
Havin’ one girl who’ll love me
Right or wrong, weak or strong

Don’t know that I will
But until I can find me
The girl who’ll stay
And won’t play games behind me
I’ll be what I am
A solitary man, solitary man

Out walking the dogs this morning in the neighborhood as usual. Then I turn the corner and see this thing raise up and give Buddy the evil eye.

So, I sent the pic above to one of the old-timers here and asked if he knew what kind of snake this is. He responded with this photo:

Damn. Wikipedia wasn’t all that reassuring either:

The venom of the Philippine cobra is a potent postsynaptic neurotoxin which affects respiratory function and can cause neurotoxicity and respiratory paralysis, as the neurotoxins interrupt the transmission of nerve signals by binding to the neuromuscular junctions near the muscles. Research has shown its venom is purely a neurotoxin, with no apparent necrotizing components and no cardiotoxins.^[9] These snakes are capable of accurately spitting their venom at a target up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) away.

Although venom toxicity values can vary greatly even among specimens of the same species, the Philippine cobra is considered to possess one of the most toxic venom among all of the Naja (cobra) species based on murine LD₅₀, according to most toxinology studies. 

I showed my photo to the subdivision guards as well and they said: “many cobras here”. Now you tell me. Guess it’s time to update my “top ten ways I’m going to die in the Philippines” list. Hmm, I guess I could replace #7 (fucked to death by a horny Filipina) as that is seeming less and less likely these days. Or maybe a subcategory of #3 (Hashing). For sure, it is one additional thing I’ll have to think about whilst on trail.

Speaking of Hashing, I’m scheduled to Hare again on October 14. I once again enlisted the help of Pubic Head as my co-Hare. We did some scouting around in the Calapacuan area yesterday. And we climbed Black Rock mountain which I had hoped to incorporate into our trail.

Alas, our efforts were mostly for naught. Once we made it back to flat ground we both agreed that the climb (mostly the coming back down) was too fraught with peril to utilize for the Hash. A bit surprising as I’ve been up there a couple of times previously and it was never this bad. Not sure if we missed the regular trail or if things have changed up there. Oh well. Two more weeks to find some alternatives.

Some other things I’ve seen while walking recently:

And speaking of things you’ve seen a hundred times but never really saw, there’s this:

It wasn’t until last night that I noticed this detail that enhanced my enjoyment of the painting so much more:

And finally, all this whistleblower talk reminded me of the last time a President got impeached.

Don’t forget to check-in on Kevin Kim’s odyssey here.

And so we took a stroll
Wound up down by the swimming hole
And she said, “do what you want to do”
I got silly and I found a frog
In the water by a hollow log
And I shook it at her and I said, “this frog’s for you”
She said

I don’t like spiders and snakes
And that ain’t what it takes to love me
You fool, you fool
I don’t like spiders and snakes
And that ain’t what it takes to love me
Like I want to be loved by you

Two noteworthy passings of music legends from my past this week: Eddie Money and Ric Ocasic. If you weren’t around for the ’70s and ’80s, you missed some rockin’ good music.

Can’t embed YouTube for some reason. Here’s My Best Friend’s Girlfriend from Ocasic and The Cars.

I’ve been listening to both on my walks this week.

Thanks for the music. Rest in Peace.

A pretty decent Hash yesterday despite the rainy weather. Actually, the rain stopped a bit before we started, and it didn’t reappear until most of us were safely “on-home.” I say “most” because as the slowest of the group I spent the last ten minutes or so walking in the rain. Such is life.

So much for the trail, now about that error. I think I broke the little toe on my left foot this morning. I have a loose tile in the dining room. I stepped on it, causing the tile to sink slightly lower than the adjacent tile. I lunged to grab Lucky who was under the table. Toe met elevated tile, and toe lost. Hurt like hell too. Now it mostly only hurts when I walk. And of course, I walk a lot.

That’s today’s dose of my so-called life.

Here’s a quick after action report on my one week visit to Vietnam. I’m not going to recap everything I’ve already blogged about; this will just be a brief summation of highs and lows.

Overall, I really enjoyed the city. It’s certainly not up to Seoul’s standard infrastructure-wise. For example, there’s no subway (although one is under construction). Saigon is comparatively cleaner than what I’ve experienced in the Philippines, but that’s not saying much. It appeared to be foreigner friendly, at least in District 1 where I was staying. There was a vibrancy and “hum” about the city that was kind of exciting, especially for someone like me coming from a small town.

So, without further ado, here’s a “Top 5” good and bad list.

The good:

• 1, People were friendly. It probably helped that I had friends there steering me to the right places, but I never really encountered any outright anti-American sentiments or anything like that.
• 2. The women were beautiful. Although I did not partake in a physical way (other than a massage that ended happily), I enjoyed meeting and chatting with several lovely ladies I met in the bars. Well, chatting may be an overstatement given the lack of a common tongue, so maybe it was just body language.
• 3. A very friendly and close knit expat community. This was not unlike what I’ve experienced in Barretto, and it’s a big deal for me. I would have a hard time living anywhere where I was the only person around who looked like me. The folks I met were very warm and welcoming and it felt like I fit right in with them.
• 4. The food. I shared pretty much everything I ate in earlier blog posts. Obviously, I didn’t go all-in Vietnamese, but that’s really my point. There was a variety of foods available to suit my mood and with few exceptions they were all quite good.
• 5. The service. Maybe this ties into the first point, but damn, people serving you there certainly aim to please. At my hotel, the Lotus Central, I was honestly shocked at how accommodating the staff was to all my needs and requests. Hell, one night there was a personalized handwritten note on the bed wishing me “sweet dreams”. I’ve stayed in hundreds of hotels in my lifetime and as far as costumer service goes, this one was the best ever.

The bad:

• 1. The traffic. Okay, it’s a big city, and most big cities have traffic. And the traffic certainly wasn’t as bad as it is in Manila. If my tour guide is to be believed, there are 15 million people in Saigon and 7 million motor scooters. Many intersections are not even regulated with traffic signals. It was really something to see the vehicular dance they call driving there. Very surprising how few accidents there seem to be.
• 2. Not walking friendly. There are actually sidewalks on most streets. And “sidewalk” is Vietnamese for motor scooter parking. Apparently. It was a little shocking how the streets were lined with these scooters blocking both the sidewalk and the street front businesses. I’m not sure if that is something you get used to or not. And crossing those busy streets as a pedestrian? Scary stuff! You’ve got to find the rhythm of the traffic–an inopportune hesitation could be fatal.
• 3. Not as cheap as the Philippines. But then, where is? And really, Saigon is a big city which always tend to cost more than the ‘burbs. Manila is probably similarly priced.
• 4. The language barrier. This is huge for me. My Vietnamese is non-existent and with a few exceptions most of the locals I met spoke little to no English (my hotel staff was a happy exception). Thank goodness for Google translate! English speaking ability was one of the primary reasons I chose the Philippines for retirement purposes. Although I could see myself living in Saigon or Phnom Penh, I expect I would be lonelier there.
• 5. Yankee guilt. Time marches on and all that, and certainly no one (other than my tour guide) ever referenced some of the atrocities that are inherent during armed conflict, but it was hard for me to shake the memories of that regrettable war. I was very much anti-war in the 1970’s. With time I’ve come to see that our intentions in preserving the South’s independence may have been good, but the execution was both flawed and deadly on both sides.

There you have it. A fascinating city that I will perhaps one day visit again. Although if I return to Vietnam I would definitely like to get out of town and see new sights, including the beaches near Da Nang.

Would I live there? I could. But I like where I’m at now better. It’s a good fit for me. Things could change of course so it’s good to have a Plan B. Saigon remains a possibility should I ever decide to move on.

UPDATE: And so without further ado, I bid you adieu.