It seems to me that you are ultimately only as good as your partner. I’m talking about darts here, not life. Although, come to think of it… Nope, not going to go there.

Anyway, tournament last night at Alley Cats. As is the norm, it was a luck-of-the draw (aka “blind draw”) format. This means each of the participants draws a number and the two folks who draw the same number are paired up as doubles partners for the night. Sometimes this results in a disparate impact when two strong players are drawn together or two weak players are forced to compete. Still, it’s really the only fair way to treat all the players as everyone has an equal chance to get a partner of their liking.

I make mention of this process because last night I drew my nemesis, Steve the Englishman who doesn’t drink, as my partner. Now, Steve is currently the best player in town. I’m probably in the top 5 when I bring some game with me. So there was a fair amount of whining as folks figured the best they could hope for was a second place finish. I do understand those feelings, but the only way to find out is to play the match. And that’s what we proceeded to do.

Oddly enough, being favored to win puts a whole other kind of pressure on you. Conversely, your opponents have nothing to lose and so play more relaxed. At least it felt that way to me last night. In our first match we lost the first leg, won the second handily, and had a nail biter in the the final leg before prevailing. Steve was throwing outstanding darts all night, I had my typical inconsistent game going on, but did hit some out shots and a few big scores.

As expected by everyone in the bar, we reached the finals undefeated in the winners bracket. We had another tough match that went all three legs before we took the victory and the 1000 peso first place money. It wasn’t easy at all though and really I have more fun when I don’t give a shit about winning or losing.

Enough about darts. Let’s talk about walking! I did my morning 10,000 steps on pavement, taking my Abra street route. I’m always aware when I’m up in the mountains about the hazards that surround me and how easy it would be suffer serious injury with one misstep. On the street you need to of course be careful of vehicular traffic and the like, but their are other perils as well.

The streets stay wet all the time during rainy season. And in areas where there is not much traffic a green algae-like substance grows. And that shit is just about as slick as a sheet of ice. This morning while I’m walking I’m faced with either stepping out into the street, walking through a puddle, or getting up on what passes for a sidewalk. The space was actually angled 20 degrees or so as it was also a driveway entrance. Well, I knew right away I had made a mistake because it was covered in the green slime. I tried to retreat but too late–I was down on my ass. All I hurt was my pride, thankfully. Oh, an my watchband broke. I sat there stewing in my stupidity when a trike driver stopped to see if I was okay. I assured him I was, but he helped me stand up anyway. Nice guy!

I made it back home without further incident. After a brief rest and a change of shorts, I walked to Lourdes hospital for my scheduled eye doctor appointment. Afterwards I walked the length of Baloy Beach road and returned home with nearly 22,000 steps before noon!

I like my ophthalmologist, you might say we see eye-to-eye on things. *ahem*. The good news is my infections have cleared up so I don’t have to keep putting the antibiotic gunk in my eyes. He did say I’m showing early signs of cataracts. Not a problem now, but something to keep an eye on (there I go again!). The Doc suggested I wear my sunglasses when I’m outside as somehow bright sunlight can exacerbate cataract growth. I’ll come back in six months for another checkup.

What else? Well, apparently someone at Divimart read my post mocking their signage and abbreviations.

I hope they carry slow cookers. My efforts to find a replacement have been unsuccessful thus far. For whatever reason they are just not a popular cooking method here. I even did the big online shopping service, Lazada (the PI Amazon). An lo and behold, they had one listed just like the one I have (well, I have half of one now, but you know what I mean). I experienced some sticker shock at 6250 pesos ($125), more than twice what I paid for mine. But what are you going to do? Started filling out the shipping information and it turns out I can have it flown in for $100 and get it the first week in September. Or I can ship it by sea for $40 dollars and receive it at the end of October. I opted for the “fuck it, I’ll keep looking” option.

Meanwhile, the Philippines has passed a law that makes most of my drunk jokes illegal. Bastos means “rude” in Tagalog.

In other news, it turns out I’m an “extreme lark”. I wake up every morning between 5 and 6 a.m. I’m almost always in bed by 10 p.m. Pretty interesting article at the link, give it a read. I kind of like that according to neuroscience I’m a lark. All this time I figured I was just a tired old man!

And finally, in the category of one less thing to worry about–remember those ISIS terrorists I mentioned a while back? Turns out it was the father of one of the female suspects who made the accusation. Not because she’s a terrorist, but because he didn’t like the boy she was dating. It’s a crazy world out there, that’s for sure.

I did such a damn fine job getting my steps in today I think I’ll reward myself with a nice massage. Then I’ll drink some beers. Life is good!

…place finish in last night’s dart tournament. Lost out again to my nemesis Steve The Englishman Who Doesn’t Drink again. We do a “luck of the draw” format, so you never know who you will get for a partner. Steve drew Christy, probably the overall best female player in town. I got Billy who can give Christy a run for the money when she is on her game. So going in to the tourney I was thinking realistically the best we could hope for was second. Sure enough, Steve and Christy knocked us into the losers bracket and finished us off in the championship match. Still, we played them close and actually had the opportunity to beat them had we hit our out shots more consistently. Fun times!

Just to be clear, I rag on Steve not drinking (here, not to him personally) but I honestly don’t care. I don’t know his circumstances at all and it is none of my business regardless. It’s just unusual is all. Darts is primarily a pub game and most players imbibe, but obviously there is no requirement to drink. Do I think it gives him an “unfair” advantage playing sober? Nope, not really. I was sucking down San Mig Zero bottles all night and perhaps threw my best darts in the finals. I’m not sure why that is, certainly drinking does not improve hand/eye coordination. I suspect it is more about throwing relaxed and not overthinking the shots. Who knows? Who cares? It’s a game and I play for the fun of it. Winning is just icing on the cake.

Saw an eye doctor this morning at Lourdes hospital. Friendly and talkative guy, and gave me a good, non-rushed exam. As I suspected, I do have an infection in both eyes but the doc says it is not a severe case at this point. He gave me some antibiotic cream and some eye drops and told me to come back in a week. Hopefully this stuff does the trick. Oh, and total cost of the visit, including meds? 1260 pesos (less than $25).

The weather turned wild and windy last night and continues on today. Apparently this is the reason:

Anyway, the problem with the wind and the rain is that it renders an umbrella pretty much useless. Ah well. I did manage to get my morning steps in at least. This afternoon is looking kind of iffy. Nothing like the joy of rainy season in the tropics, eh?

Who’s peeking out from under a stairway
Calling a name that’s lighter than air?
Who’s bending down to give me a rainbow?
Everyone knows it’s Windy

Who’s tripping down the streets of the city
Smiling at everybody she sees?
Who’s reaching out to capture a moment?
Everyone knows it’s Windy

And Windy has stormy eyes
That flash at the sound of lies
And Windy has wings to fly
Above the clouds (Above the clouds)
Above the clouds (Above the clouds)

…place in last night’s tournament. I had a weak partner and I was throwing poorly. Oddly enough, the more I play (and practice) the worse I seem to get. Ah well, I’m trying to keep it fun regardless. We normally don’t even pay out to fifth place but there was an unusually large turnout for the event.

Not a whole lot much of anything else going on really. I guess a Hash tradition is to have patches made up for big events and as a token of your Hash namesake. After 100 runs our kennel provides a personalized vest where folks sew on the various patches they’ve acquired in their Hashing career.

And so dear readers, which one should I adopt as my personal symbol to be worn proudly on Hash vests throughout the world?

Meanwhile, here’s a news article on the unfortunate suicide/crime that is rocking Barretto.

And finally, as expected, the Mueller testimony was a big dud. Liberal tears are falling like rain. Even Hitler is not happy about it! (sorry, for some reason I could not embed the video. The link will take you there. Funny stuff!)

https://captiongenerator.com/1467792/Hitler-Discovers-Robert-Mueller-Knows-Nothing

Reckon I’ll do a haircut and a massage this afternoon. Nothing like living the life, eh?

Here come old flat top
He come grooving up slowly
He got joo joo eyeball
He one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker he just do what you please.

He wear no shoe shine
He got toe jam football
He got monkey finger
He shoot Coca-Cola
He say I know you, you know me
One thing I can tell you is you got to be free
Cum together right now over me

He bag production
He got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard
He one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knee
Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease
Cum together right now over me

He roller coaster
He got early warning
He got Muddy Water
He one Mojo filter
He say. “One and one and one is three”
Got to be good looking ’cause he so hard to see
Cum together right now over me

(I took the liberty of correcting Mr. Lennon’s spelling of “cum”

Had a bit of a catastrophe in the kitchen this morning. Came home from my morning walk and decided I’d throw some meatballs in the crockpot for dinner tonight. Now, when it comes to cooking I try to do things the easy way. And my meatballs are no exception to that rule.

So, I proceeded to get the pre–made meatballs out of the freezer and dumped them into the slow cooker. Added some seasoning and spices then doused them in spaghetti sauce. Plugged the crockpot into the 220-110 transformer and turned it on. Nothing. What the hell? I moved the transformer to another outlet and tried again. Nope. So I figured it must be a blown fuse or something, but nothing I could do about it now.

But what to do with the meatball concoction? I figured I’d go old school, and got the big pot off the shelf. I tried to pour the meatballs from the slow cooker directly into the pot and splashed sauce all over my shirt, my shorts, my socks, and the floor. Damn it! So anyway, I get what’s left into the pot, put it on the stove, and turn on the burner. Except the electric igniter (it’s a gas stove) wasn’t functioning. And then I realized just how truly stupid I can be. The transformer and the stove ignition wouldn’t work because we were experiencing a power outage again. Geez.

Well, I lit the stove with a lighter, set it on low, and laid down to catch 40 winks. I guess it was more like 400 because I napped for an hour. When I came downstairs my helper advised that I had burnt the meatballs. Aw well, I guess it wasn’t meant to be. The dogs will be eating good though I reckon.

Last night I played darts and finished in third place. That’s not bad considering I had a rookie for a partner. New gal named Faith, she’s Steve the non-drinking Englishman dart player’s girlfriend. I know he’s been training her up and I think she’ll be a good darter one day. Just inconsistent right now. She did throw a couple of double out shots though, so I’m not complaining.

I threw pretty decent overall, notwithstanding my failure to practice. I get teased sometimes because I will occasionally talk out loud to myself, saying things like “John, you gotta focus here” or “John, you got this out shot”. You know, just a little pep talk. Well, it turns out that talking to yourself in the second person is a scientifically proven way to improve performance.

Athletes who urge themselves on using the second person are more likely to triumph, new research has found.

Sportsmen and women have a greater chance of success if at the critical moment they say to themselves “you can do it” rather than “I can do it”, the study revealed.

And don’t you dare try and argue that darters aren’t “athletes”. Anyway, the bottom line is I had fun and that’s what it is all about. I guess the next time I tell myself “John, you need to practice your darts” I’ll try not to say “shut the fuck up, I’m blogging now”.

And another thing I did today rather than practice darts was answer this question on Quora: Have you ever immigrated from a wealthy country to a less wealthy country? Why?

I retired and moved to the Philippines a little over a year ago. I am an American but had been living and working for several years in Korea prior to moving here.

Why? Because it is a beautiful country filled with wonderful people. And my pension goes a lot further here than it would in the USA.

I remember my very first visit to the Philippines as a tourist back in 2008. I was shocked by the in your face poverty, even in the capital city of Manila. I’d never seen anything like it. The next thing I observed was how happy the Filipino people were despite being poor. Even with so little, Filipinos are also very generous. If one person is the family has 1000 pesos they will gladly share with a family member who has none, knowing that their kindness will be repaid when the situation is reversed.

Are there frustrations with living in a third world country? Hell yes! Bad infrastructure, unreliable utilities, shoddy craftsmanship, and spotty service are things you will frequently encounter. And if you can’t handle that you should definitely not live here. I used to get frustrated quite often until a girlfriend here taught me this mantra: “Take a deep breath. Relax. Accept the Filipino way.” I use it often and it seems to work.

A couple of years before I retired I brought a Korean woman I was dating with me for a visit. We had a great time but on our last night she told me she was breaking up with me. I was astounded and asked her why. She told me “We don’t have a future together. You want to retire and move here. Who wants to live in a poor country?” I responded that I can move to the Philippines and make a difference for at least some of the people here. You can live in your rich country and pretend this world does not exist. I want to make a difference.

I guess in my own small way I have. I have hired two domestic helpers and a driver that might otherwise be unemployed. I support a small orphanage where I live. And I’ve helped out some other folks in need on occasion. That’s a good feeling.

I’ll take the life I’m building here over a boring and vanilla lifestyle in the USA any day. It is far from perfect but I have no regrets.

Now I reckon I’ll reward myself with a nice dinner. I’m thinking the Arizona resort might just be the ticket. Peace out!

Just back from a seven hour brownout here. My helper says it was a scheduled power outage, but I hadn’t seen or heard about it. Well, while I was out walking this afternoon I did see the electric company was clearing branches from the wires. Hopefully that maintenance will prevent longer and unexpected outages down the road. Made for a hot and sweaty time both inside and outside today. Oh well.

Yesterday’s hike with the Sausage Walkers turned out to be a wet one. We met up at Angel’s Bakery as usual and saw the clouds forming, but decided to take our chances anyway. And spent most of the trek in a downpour. Still, I led the first portion of the hike over the trail I’m planning for the Hash on July 22. I was glad to have an opportunity to see how it would hold up on a wet day. And it turns out it wasn’t bad at all. Good to know!

So there’s this gal, Rheangelyne (Rheya for short), that I recently added to my friends list on Facebook. A few months ago she came on a few of the Wednesday walks and one or two Hashes with her German boyfriend, Dirk. Dirk is now back in his country for a few months. I actually found Rheya via a dating website I occasionally visit.

Anyway, she wanted to go hiking again so I invited her out. She seemed to enjoy herself despite the rain. She apparently likes making YouTube videos of her adventures and invited me to subscribe to her channel. Of course, I did. Now, the quality of her work needs some improvement, but here’s the one from yesterday’s hike. It’s only a little over three minutes long and gives a flavor of the hike anyway.

And here’s the route we took:

Last night I played some darts at Alley Cats and threw pretty decent. Good enough for a first place finish anyway. Imagine what I might accomplish if I actually practiced occasionally?

I’m going to share some insights on a cultural aspect of the Philippines, but not today. I need to take a shower now. It’s beer o’clock.

But no one is perfect. So why practice?

That’s a conundrum I can’t answer, but I can attest to the fact that despite a near total lack of practice I threw some of my best darts last night. That included two 180’s (that’s three triple 20’s if you are keeping score) which is the highest points possible in a game of 501. Pretty routine for the pros but a rare event for us amateurs. The bar recognized my feat with a chit good for one free beer (the other 180 was in warm ups so didn’t count). And my partner and I went on to a first place finish, going through the winner’s bracket undefeated. Even more satisfying was beating Steve, the non-drinking Englishman, twice!

Jerelyn is relatively new to the bar and also to the game of darts. So she has a ways to go to become proficient at the sport. She’s a sweetie though and enthusiastic. It was a good time playing with her and her reaction to winning was precious. There was a small turnout last night so her share of the winnings was only 250 pesos, but that’s pretty close to a day’s wages here.

Anyway, good times at the oche!

In other news, the sun has made a rare appearance for the better part of the day today. I got a good walk in this morning and I’m fixin’ to go out and get my afternoon groove on. But damn, it’s hot. In a steamy, sultry kind of way. That’s one thing about the Philippines, you can always find something to complain about weather-wise.

I’ll leave you with this photo of my lazy dogs. As you can see, Lucky has really grown. Probably 3/4 the size of Buddy now and he’s probably still got some growing to do.

Hold on, I guess that what’s called a strategic comma placement.

Anyway, I was surprised to get a message from my dart league captain advising that I’d be representing the Lagoon team in the MVP end of season singles tournament yesterday. I’ve honestly felt like a part time member of the team given my propensity to miss matches due to travel, including the final two weeks of the regular season. Seeing as how I’ve not been practicing (I did play once in Korea) and the MVP features the best player from each league team, I fully expected it would be two and done for me (it’s a double elimination format).

Well, I won by forfeit in the first round because my opponent didn’t show. In the second round I faced Alan who plays out of Alley Cats and is someone I’ve had some non-dart related issues with in the past. He’s a good darter though and given my lack of practice I didn’t expect to beat him. I got lucky in the first leg of 501 as Alan struggled long enough with the double out to allow me to catch up and eventually win the game. The second leg was Cricket, which I consider my better game. I don’t throw any better in a Cricket game but I understand the nuances of strategy and sometimes beat superior players because of that. Well, despite taking an early lead I wound up losing the leg. Alan won the coin flip and chose Cricket again which pleased me just fine. This time I stayed on my game and won the leg and the match handily.

So I advanced to the finals of the winner’s bracket and had to face Steve, an Englishman who is relatively new in town. Of course the English have a dart playing gene and Steve is an excellent player. And he does not drink alcoholic beverages, which is almost heresy in a bar league. I’d equate it to those biological males who identify as female and compete in women’s competitions. So yeah, that’s my excuse for getting my ass kicked in two legs.

Back to the loser’s bracket where I eventually faced off against Alan again. Almost identical results, me winning the third cricket leg to take the match. Which put me in the finals against Steve. And he once again completely dominated me. Ah well, a second place finish was much more than I expected. Will I be motivated to get off my lazy ass and practice so that perhaps one day I might actually beat Steve? Stay tuned!

In other news it appears that rainy season is upon us. We’ve had rain for the past couple of days and nights, including a downpour just before I was to head out for the dart tourney. I almost said “fuck it” and stayed home but decided since I’d been asked to represent the team I should follow through.

I’m still shocked that in a country where it rains a lot there is such poor drainage. The streets were like rivers last night which is a real pain in the ass. And while it didn’t rain this morning during my walk, many of the streets were covered in mud from last night’s flooding. Oh well, that’s life in the Philippines. It’s still hot too, but at least with some cloud cover you can avoid the direct sunlight. And as I type these words the thunder is rolling once again. My afternoon hike may be in peril.

Continuing on with the theme of yesterday’s post, I remembered a song while I was responding to comments: “Is that all there is?”. It’s funny in a way because it was a big hit for Peggy Lee in 1969, but I don’t recall ever having heard it until I watched some obscure movie from 2007 called The Nines. Anyway, I think the song pretty accurately captures the way I feel at times. Hell, maybe we all do. But if one is striving to live in the moment it seems unreasonable to expect every moment to be full of wonder and excitement.

And whether my beer is half-full or half-empty I’m fully prepared to say “one more please!”.

I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire
I’ll never forget the look on my father’s face as he gathered me up
in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement
I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames
And when it was all over I said to myself, is that all there is to a fire

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is

And when I was twelve years old, my father took me to a circus, the greatest show on earth
There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads
And so I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle
I had the feeling that something was missing
I don’t know what, but when it was over
I said to myself, “is that all there is to a circus?

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is

Then I fell in love, head over heels in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world
We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other’s eyes
We were so very much in love
Then one day he went away and I thought I’d die, but I didn’t
and when I didn’t I said to myself, is that all there is to love?

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing

I know what you must be saying to yourselves
If that’s the way she feels about it why doesn’t she just end it all?
Oh, no, not me I’m in no hurry for that final disappointment
for I know just as well as I’m standing here talking to you
when that final moment comes and I’m breathing my first breath, I’ll be saying to myself

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is

Dart league started at 2:00 p.m. After winning our match 8-5 it was on to Alley Cats for the Friday night tourney. Finished a drunken 4th place in that event.

I’m home now and dog assed tired. Speaking of dog asses, Lucky is still peeing in the house. I guess it’s a battle of wills. I should have the upper hand because he does want to be an inside dog. That’s fine by me, as long as he does his business outside. We’ll see how long it takes for him to figure that out.

One of the reasons I’m tired is 6+ hours of beer drinking. The other was doing my morning walk. It rained last night and was cloudy enough this morning to make taking a longish hike doable.

We are scheduled to have a power outage from 8-5 tomorrow. Well, the notice said “all of Olongapo”. My power company hails from Subic though so I’m keeping my finger crossed that I won’t be impacted. I guess I’ll know soon enough.

And so concludes this evening’s drunken post. Off to bed for me!

This weekend is the annual Beach Bash, sponsored by the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). I’ve participated in a couple of dart tourneys associated with the event and will play in another this afternoon. Tonight there is the Miss Beach Bash swimsuit contest which I look forward to having a look at. Ahem.

Anyway, last night was a great night of darts. Early in the tourney I threw like I have been in practice. Later on when the beer kicked in I was not as accurate or consistent, but still managed to hang on for a first place finish worth P1500 ($30). That’s pretty big money in these local tournaments.

After darts we took a trike out to Baloy Beach to see the live band at the Lagoon Resort lounge.

Anyway, it was a pretty good day here in paradise.

…but sometimes it makes good enough. At least it did last night.

As I’ve mentioned, recently I have rededicated myself to the sport of darting. Well, what I mean is that I’m practicing daily at home. And I’ve had some pretty amazing practice sessions. Sadly, they haven’t seemed to carry over in competition. But in last night’s singles tournament I could feel the difference. Although still too inconsistent, I was hitting big scores and throwing my double-out shots better. Most importantly, I was throwing with more confidence which probably explains the better play over all.

Last night was probably the best I’ve played in years. And I needed every good throw I managed. I beat some damn fine players along the way and then came back through the loser’s bracket to beat the guy who put me there for the championship. I really enjoyed the challenge and had a lot of fun playing again as well. Let’s see if I can build on this success and take it to the next level.

Speaking of winning, I had another success this morning. Let’s tell that story in photos, shall we?

And then suddenly it was all looking familiar. Could it be? Could it finally be?

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me until the quest was done.

Oh, and I just noticed that this is post number 3001 here at LTG. Talk about coming along on a journey! Thanks for joining me. Having readers of my ramblings is both quite humbling and very surprising. But it means a lot. I appreciate your support!

Well, make that days.

Getting settled into my routines and rituals such as they are. Not all that exciting or blog worthy, but that’s real life for most of us I suppose.

I played in my first dart tournament in awhile and took a first place. Even sweeter was beating my arch rival Greg in the finals.

And I also had a good time, which sadly is not always the case.

I wrapped up my dart league commitment yesterday by participating in the end of season MVP tournament. It didn’t end well, but I didn’t care. Henceforth my Wednesdays and Fridays are open again. I like the freedom to do what I want when I want, rather than having an obligation to not let the team down. The problem with league for me is it starts at 2:00 and by the time it’s over I’m buzzed on beer and so the remainder of the day is pretty much shot. With tourneys I can show up or not depending on what I want to do. My plan is to do some travel (both local and international) and I don’t want to feel tied down by darts. Darts is a pastime, not a vocation for me.

I’m still out there hoofing it every morning. I’ve been exceeding my personal daily goal, so I’m happy about that. Even pushing myself to leave my comfort zone and start exploring some new paths to experience.

Did I mention it’s been hot?

I’m more or less a passive observer of the world here as it passes, but a couple of things recently caught my attention. Not everything is cheaper in the Philippines, but labor definitely is. Unskilled workers are lucky to make the equivalent of five dollars a day. You see the impact of these low wages in many ways (other than the shanty towns). Construction projects are swarming with human bodies doing the work that machines do back home. For example, concrete is mixed by hand and carried up to the pour area by hand in buckets. And then yesterday I saw this:

Painting the lines on the highway by hand with a brush and bucket of paint. Never seen anything like that before. Oh, and as you might have noticed, there apparently is no OSHA equivalent here.

The other thing that really stands out for me is that people here have no cultural aversion to littering. Hell, it goes way beyond littering, it’s trashing the environment. I see kids and grownups routinely throwing crap out of windows and vehicles. But the other morning as I was walking across the Matain river bridge I saw something that left me gobsmacked. There was a guy walking towards me carrying a bucket full of trash. I kept saying to myself “no he isn’t, no he isn’t.” But he did. Got to the middle of the bridge and poured the contents right into the river. Which runs into Subic Bay in less than a mile. I’ll be seeing that trash again soon as I walk along the beach no doubt.

The dirty banks of the Matain river awaiting the next heavy rain to carry the garbage out into the bay and beaches.

Anyway, I don’t like to be critical of my adopted home, but cultural sensitivity only goes so far. It’s a beautiful country. I just wish the natives appreciated that as much as I do.

Oh well.

She calls out to the man on the street
He can see she’s been crying
She’s got blisters on the soles of her feet
She can’t walk but she’s trying

Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do
Oh lord, there must be something you can say

Today’s highlight was playing in the MVP tournament.

As my last hurrah for the Friday dart league that I won’t be playing in next season, I did agree to participate in the end of the season doubles event. We lost in the first round, but came back through the loser’s bracket and defeated the team that put us there. Twice. Which means we are the champions!

Good job by my partner for the night Liezel….

I can’t account for why my darts were better at the end than at the beginning. I just have to believe it had something to do with the aiming fluid.

Prove me wrong!

Anyway, it was a good night for darts.

And now the rains have started. Let’s see how much punch this super typhoon is going to throw our way….

The streak has ended. Finished 4th tonight at darts. Although honestly, I played pretty well and had a decent partner too. Just the way the arrows fly sometimes.

Said a goodbye to a sweet and sassy lass…

Good luck in Thailand, Joana. Have a happy life!

Maybe I’m paranoid, but it seems the gals are sending me subliminal messages…

Are you sure?

Anyway, I’m drunk (again). Had a busy day exchanging dollars for pesos and picking up dollars that I’ve had wired in from the states. Supposed to meet the landlord Monday, but honestly I haven’t seen any of the promised repairs taking place yet (I walk by the house everyday).

And my Fitbit died. Hopefully I can find a replacement soon.

Trying mightily…

Embracing the poetry of life. Whatever gets you through the day.

your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.

–Charles Bukowski

Another day, another darts tournament.

And another 1st Place finish! Hey, like I always say better to be lucky than good. Although I do seem to be improving.

In other news, there was a little hiccup with the house. And by hiccup I mean a major miscommunication. I met the landlord yesterday to review the lease agreement. Now, what I recall being discussed was two months rent up front (the security deposit and first month of a 12 month lease). The contract I was presented said two months security deposit, plus one year rent in advance on a three year lease. WTF?

The landlord said that it was a standard practice to pay the rent on an annual basis. Which made some sense seeing as how that was the way it often works under the “key money” concept in Korea. Still, it was a little different when Uncle Sam was footing the bill on my behalf. Anyway, I told the landlord I didn’t have that kind of cash on hand or readily available. So he offered a compromise–the security deposit plus 6 months advance rent. Well, I might be able to swing that.

Anyway, there is work to be done on the house (primarily termite damage in the kitchen and downstairs bathroom). A few other minor repairs as well. He called his construction guy out to the house (a retired American) and we all did a walk around the house together. Really liked the Yank and he will be a good source if and when I need to find some help fixing shit. I won’t be turning over any cold hard cash until I see the place is move-in ready, that’s for sure.

So today I busied myself exchanging the American dollars I have on hand and started the process of getting additional funds wired in from the states. I gave Remitly.com a go, and they actually called me here to verify some identity information. That was cool with me. Apparently, the service is primarily intended to be used within the USA. They wanted to know how long I planned to be in the Philippines. I told them I had a flight out on June 8. Which is technically true. I just have no intention of being on that flight.

I also gave Xoom.com a try. I thought that went smoothly, but just got an email saying they needed a copy of my bank statement and passport. I wrote back and said who the hell gets paper statements from the bank anymore? I did send them a screenshot of the account I want the money transferred from. Also sent the requested copy of my passport. Well, a picture of my passport anyway.

I next went to my old standby, Western Union. They seem to have a bad reputation with the expat community here for some reason. I’ve used them quite a bit in the past, but only for hundreds of dollars, not thousands. They are the only ones (so far at least) who haven’t given me any shit requests for more info yet. They did want to know my log-in and password for my bank account for “verification” purposes. That was disconcerting. I finally went ahead and gave it to them, and they verified whatever they needed to verify. Then I went in and changed my log-in ID and password. So I should be okay. I hope!

Anyway, if all or most of that money from the above outlets comes through, I can pay the rent. We shall see.

More darts on tap for tonight. Life is good.

…at the same time! Who knew?

I came across this article today which links chewing gum while walking with increased calorie burn and hence more weight loss benefit. I figured why not give it a try? Especially after enjoying a french toast breakfast. Sometimes it’s good to be bad. Anyway, I’m walking, chewing, and vaping. How’s that for multi-tasking?

A good night of darts last night. My game is still frustratingly inconsistent, but I hit some big throws when I needed them most which is always satisfying.

Managed a first place finish with a relatively weak partner. That’s progress!

Bottom line though is I’m having fun at the game again and of course enjoying the social interactions that come with playing. That and the beer!

It’s all good.

…I hope it don’t turn away.

Good morning from paradise! I’m starting to feel solid again, if you get my meaning.

Apparently there was a scheduled power outage from 0600 to 0800 this morning. I didn’t get the word until everything went dark. Ah well, had a nice chat out on the patio with my neighbor Bill. Interesting Yank, been here three years now and professes to love it. I enjoyed hearing some of his yarns and I’m looking forward to making some of my own in the coming days, weeks, months and years.

Took off on my morning beach walk then popped into Treasure Island (which had power via a generator) for breakfast and a little flirting with the wait staff. My favorite, Joana, wasn’t working today. She lives in Olongapo City and I’d asked her to see if the fresh market there sold any fresh celery. She brought some into work with her yesterday. I was grateful for her efforts (the market in Barretto never has any) even if the celery itself isn’t up to American standards.

Skinny and limp though it may be, still tasty when dipped into a jar of creamy peanut butter…

I semi-teasingly asked Joana if she was looking for a boyfriend and she responded “I have enough boyfriends to last me ten years”. Love her attitude. Alas, it appears the attraction is a one-way street.

After a satisfying 3-egg omelette with ham, cheese, and mushrooms I recommenced my walk.

I walked by my soon to be future home…

….and then returned home via the beach walk…

Yesterday I played in the local dart league and then last night I played in the Wednesday night tournament. It was a lot of darts and a lot of beers kinda day. In fact, during the almost two weeks since my arrival I’ve played more darts than I have in the last two years. I’m starting to recapture the old passion for the game again. I’m slowly regaining some of my former prowess, but I remain way too inconsistent. I did throw my second ton-80 and racked up two second place finishes. Lost both times to older Filipinas who are both outstanding darters. I definitely need to be on my game to be competitive here.

I guess I’ve been drafted to play league with the Alley Hideaway Bar “Alley Cats”. Suits me fine. The team captain, Anabel, is a cutie. She calls me “Kuya” which means older brother. I asked her how do you say “boyfriend” in Tagalog. She told me, then laughed and said she’d just call me John. Struck out again, apparently.

Anyway, I’m feeling more and more at home and comfortable in my life here, solitary though it may be. There is still a void waiting to be filled, but I’m going to bide my time and patiently wait for nature to take its course. If she is worthy, she will find me.

Now I’m livin’
out here on the beach,
but those seagulls are
still out of reach.
The world is turnin’
I hope it don’t turn away

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKgj1FNToWY