Sunday morning walkaholic

Posted on 28/April/2019 by John McCrarey

As opposed to Saturday night when I was–

Plying my favorite bargirls at Alaska Club with chocolate and ladydrinks. I quaffed a fair amount of SM Zero beer myself. How much does that kind of fun cost me? A little less than $40! Only in the Philippines!

Up earlier than normal this morning so I decided to take advantage of the relatively cooler hours and do an elongated hike.

***Just under 14K. Took me 3.5 hours, but I move slow going up and down the mountains.***

***…but mostly I was above the beach…***

***The majority of the trek was along the mountain ridge line. Which I guess technically put me closer to the sun…***

***And the sun was a pretty bitch today. I don’t recall seeing that rainbow effect before.***

I didn’t really expect I’d be out so long and didn’t bring enough water. I took my last swallow as I started my descent from the mountaintop and once I reached the bottom I was on Rizal Extension. I popped into one of the ubiquitous sari-sari stores and asked for a bottle of water.

***I didn’t take this photo, but this is the typical look for these small markets. As Wikipedia describes them:***
“A sari-sari store, or neighborhood sundry store, is a convenience store found in the Philippines. The word sari-sari is Tagalog meaning “variety” or “sundry”. Such stores form an important economic and social location in a Filipino community and is ubiquitous in neighborhoods and streets.Wikipedia “

Anyway, this one didn’t have any water available but the owner vaguely pointed across the street and said something in Tagalog. I was pretty thirsty at this point so I walked over and asked an older gentleman sitting there if he had water for sale. There were several empty bottles of Red Horse (a powerful local beer) sitting on the table in front of him so I think he was halfway drunk. But he hopped up and went inside then came back out carrying some chunks of ice in his unwashed hands. He said the water wasn’t cold and I said that’s fine, I don’t mind warm water. He waved me off, then proceeded to smash the ice against the dirty wall until the pieces were small enough to fit into a container sitting on the table. Then he filled the container with water from a dispenser he had sitting on the porch. He smiled and said “just wait, it will chill”.

Hmm. Well, I would have preferred the water direct from the dispenser, but what are you gonna do? He asked me how old I was, I told him 63. He smiled and said that he and his friend (who was sitting at the other end of the porch) were both 55. So, we all shook hands. Then I poured the water from his container into my empty water bottle. I offered him some money for his trouble and he refused it saying “we are neighbors”. So I thanked him again and was on my way.

And there you have a good example of Filipino friendliness. I’ll let you know if I develop a case of diarrhea. Yes, I did quench my thirst with the gifted water. I also bought a bottle of Gatorade at the next sari-sari store I came across.

Anyway, I finished my hike with a jaunt over a portion of My Bitch without further incident. Well, I was accosted by a pack of dogs, but I was prepared for those bastards since they always seem to lay in wait of an ambush at the end of that trail. I had my walking stick and a handful of rocks at the ready and challenged them with a hearty “come and get it motherfuckers!”. The keep barking but back off a respectable distance from the crazy guy. I learned that the best course of action is being aggressive with aggressive dogs from my days as a mailman.

And that was the end of today’s adventure. So far.

It’s not having what you want
It’s wanting what you’ve got
I’m gonna soak up the sun
I’m gonna tell everyone
To lighten up (I’m gonna tell ’em that)
I’ve got no one to blame
For every time I feel lame
I’m looking up
I’m gonna soak up the sun

Lyin’ Joe Biden

Posted on 27/April/2019 by John McCrarey

I refrain from engaging in politics much these days, but that doesn’t mean I’m not observing the ever escalating bullshit emanating from the Democrat presidential wannabes. And now Joe Biden has entered the fray by recycling the whopper that Trump said some of the neo-Nazis at Charlottesville were “fine” people. Which as anyone with half a brain knows is a complete fabrication. As Althouse notes:

…
we were shown images from the Charlottesville march — replete with the “Jews will not replace us chant” and swastikas — and then Biden’s blandly earnest face asserted that Trump said some of them “are fine people.” But Trump did not say that! It’s absolutely established that Trump excluded those people explicitly before saying that there were some fine people on both sides of the question of keeping Confederate statues. (At the time of the fine people remark, Trump said, “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists because they should be condemned totally.”)

I can only hope the vast majority of Americans are tuned in enough to utterly reject this kind of bullshit. Well, I guess with the economy humming along, lies are all the Democrats have to run on.

Meanwhile, here in the real world (at least the one I live in) things continue pretty much as the always do.

***Beers and sunsets on the Blue Rock floating bar…***

***With views like this along the way.***

Summer is upon us now so I find it best to be off the streets by 10:00 a.m. and pick up again after 3:00 p.m. Two shorter walks as opposed to one long hot one. We’ll see if I can maintain that kind of motivation.

I continue to self-medicate my bout of the blues.

***A few beers do seem to change my outlook. At least temporarily…***

Honestly speaking I’ve got no room to complain and what I do complain about are things pretty much within my control to change. Sometimes it’s just easier to go along to get along. And sometimes it isn’t. I’m kind of in a transition between the two at the moment I think. But rest assured a bad day here is better than a lot of the so-called good days I’ve lived in the past.

I’ve just got to stop giving people the power to hurt me. Heh, you’d think after 63 years on this planet I’d have figured that out by now.

You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You’re faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life’s been way off line
You’re falling to pieces every time
And I don’t need no carryin’ on

‘Cause you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don’t lie
You’re coming back down and you really don’t mind
You had a bad day

Woe is me

Posted on 25/April/2019 by John McCrarey

Yeah, one of those wallowing in self pity kind of days.

***A two hour hike in the mountains and on the beach (heh, bitch and beach) took some of the edge off.***

Anyway, I’ll get over it. Soon I hope.

In the meantime, I decorated my dart board up some with souvenirs from my glory days, such as they were.

All the love I’m getting these days is of the canine variety.

***Lucky ain’t got a care in the world.***

And this gave me a chuckle:

That’s all I got today folks. I’m off to the orphanage for my monthly pizza party with the kids this afternoon. That ought to cheer me up. Or at least snap me out of this feeling sorry for myself bullshit. We’ll see.

To think that only yesterday
I was cheerful, bright and gay
Looking forward to, well, who wouldn’t do
The role I was about to play

But as if to knock me down
Reality came around
And without so much as a mere touch
Cut me into little pieces

Leaving me to doubt
Talk about God in His mercy
Who, if He really does exist
Why did He desert me?

And in my hour of need
I truly am, indeed
Alone again, naturally

Lazy daze

Posted on 24/April/2019 by John McCrarey

The worst thing about being retired is that you never get a day off. To hell with that, I took one yesterday anyway. Of course, since I don’t do much anyway it’s hard to tell the difference. In this case, the difference was that I just completely blew off walking. Other than walking to the bars I mean. I’m not crazy!

***That’s my feet after Monday’s climb/hike. It was dirty work. Maybe I just needed some recovery time.***

Speaking of the hike, thanks to Kevin Kim for the shout out on his blog. As I told him in the comments I am unworthy of such high praise. But I appreciate the support!

We can all use a little encouragement after all:

And oh yeah, I stole this one from Kev’s blog too:

What else? Well, we had a little aftershock at 0200 which I happened to be awake for because I was doing one of my coughing jags. Not sure what is going on with the lungs but I’m periodically hocking up gobs of phlegm and experiencing shortness of breath. Not as bad as it was a couple of years ago, but not as good as I had been doing a couple of months ago. Maybe it’s just the heat or a touch of bronchitis. I plan on getting a complete physical exam when I visit Korea next month.

Also, deafness is getting to be quite a problem for me lately. I never thought I’d hear myself say that. *ahem*

Speaking of the earthquake situation, there was another largish quake yesterday on the next island over. The Philippines sits on the infamous “ring of fire” so I guess this is nothing to get all shook up about.

Enjoying my beers at Cheap Charlies last night and observed what may or may not have been damage from the recent quake. The bargirl I was drinking with says it was preexisting damage, but my story is much more exciting!

Alright, well time for me to get off my lazy ass and walk the dogs. But not before leaving you some gratuitous proud dog owner photos.

***Here you see Lucky and Buddy learning to obey the “stay!” command in the face of temptation!***

***And here they are utterly failing in that endeavor…***

Happy trails to you!

Please don’t ask me what’s on my mind
I’m a little mixed up, but I’m feelin’ fine
When I’m near that girl that I love best
My heart beats so it scares me to death!
She touched my hand what a chill I got
Her lips are like a volcano that’s hot
I’m proud to say she’s my buttercup
I’m in love
I’m all shook up
Mm mm oh, oh, yeah, yeah!

Rock and roll

Posted on 23/April/2019 by John McCrarey

Quite an adventure yesterday climbing the rocks on Easter mountain and once we got back down, the rocks began to roll. But bottom line up front, I made it to the top.

Success was in question before I even got started. As we made our way to the drop off point in the Hashmobile I realized I must have left my walking stick back at Johannson’s. Shit! Well, I wasn’t sure I was going to attempt getting all the way up anyway, discretion being the better part of valor and all. But without my stick I knew I was fucked. I rely on it for balance going up and more importantly, as a brake on the way back down. So upon arrival I get out of the truck and I’m contemplating my next move when a fellow Hasher hands me my stick and says you left this inside. So, it seemed fated that I was going to at least attempt to climb the mountain.

And indeed it was more of a climb than a hike. Getting up required the use of hands as well as feet, which is unusual. I knew from observing the mountain from a distance that the last 1/3 of the trail would be the steepest and toughest and I was not disappointed in that regard. There were a couple of times the voice in my head was saying “fuck this!” but my response was always “too late to turn back now!” And as I mentioned at the outset, in the end I persevered.

Coming back down presented its own challenges, primarily gravity and forward momentum. But with the aid of my trusty walking stick I maintained balance and kept me feet on the ground where they belong.

So, when it was all said and done I’m glad I made the climb and will look forward to doing it again next year. Maybe.

Once back on flat ground we were awaiting the arrival of the stragglers. And then I heard a low, rolling, rumble. And suddenly there was a whole lotta shakin’ going on. Yep, an earthquake was upon us. I grew up in SoCal so it wasn’t new to me, but that feeling of helplessness in the face of Mother Nature doing her thing is something you never get used to. Some reports put the epicenter at just a few kilometers from where I stood. And at 6.1 on the Richter scale, it was quite a ride. Only lasted about 15 seconds which is a good thing given the general lack of quality in construction methods and materials in these parts. That said, news reports say 8 died and several buildings were damaged, including the terminal at Clark airport in Angeles.

Quite the day! Let’s go to the pictures:

***The trail. The runners ran back to Barretto and on-home at Hot Zone. The rest of us rode the truck back.***

***The Hashmobile was packed as usual.***

***Last minute instructions from the Hare.***

***And we are off on our quest for the summit.***

***Damn, too bad I’m not a mountain goat. You can see a guy at the top if you look closely.***

***Now this actually proved quite tricky. Had I weighed 10 pounds more I would have been screwed. It was a tight squeeze as it was.***

***I finally made it to the top and these Harriettes were chillaxin’ and taking in the view.***

***A shrine to the Virgin Mary was up top…***

***And of course the Cross. Would it be “Easter” mountain without one?***

Some reports say the epicenter was in Castejillos, just a couple of KMs away. I hiked out that way recently. It would have been real freaky if the quake had struck 30 minutes earlier when I was on top of the mountain. I likely would have shit my pants!

*So, at the end of the day I wasn’t a turkey after all. I came, I saw, I conquered. Why did I climb Easter mountain? Because it was there! You can quote me on that*!

***In addition to the quake, there was an odd phenomenon in the sky. Looks almost like a blue tornado. Without the wind and destruction–just a light show.***

***And finally, here’s a useful tip: Don’t wear new shoes to the Hash. Otherwise you’ll be drinking beer out of them. Just one of our rituals…***

It was a day full of challenges and excitement. Just what I needed!

I feel the Earth move under my feet….

Monday, Monday

Posted on 22/April/2019 by John McCrarey

Nothing much happening around here. Early to bed last night and of course early to rise as well. That did enable me to get my morning steps in by 0930, thereby beating some of the heat. I’ve been chillin’ and nappin’ since then, but now it’s time to go out and Hash.

I’ve mentioned before that I just don’t watch much TV, online or otherwise. But since it’s too damn hot and I’m stuck indoors I figured what the hell, let’s see what’s on. I canceled my Netflix a while back and as much as I’d like to catch up on Game of Thrones I’m not sure I want to commit to an HBO subscription. Then I recalled that I’m paying for an Amazon Prime membership and that includes a pretty good lineup of online programming. The first series I clicked on “wasn’t available in my area” so I tried a series billed as original Prime programming. It’s called “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”. Here’s the trailer:

Now, back in the day I read some of Clancy’s books featuring the Ryan character and they were pretty good. John Krasinski as Ryan took some suspension of the memory of his role in The Office, but he’s not bad really. I’ve only watched the first episode so I’m going to withhold judgement for now. It did seem to be a little sympathetic to the motivations of the terrorist character so we’ll see if this show goes the full libtard route or not. I’ll commit to a couple of more episodes and let you know.

***Today’s Hash will be the climb up Easter Mountain.***

It’s an annual tradition to climb the mountain on the Monday after Easter. Some Hashers have said it’s really tough and they won’t be going back again. I’m going to attempt it with every intention of turning around in retreat if I ain’t feelin’ it. I’ll let you know how that goes.

And that’s all I’ve got on this hot Monday.

Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day;
Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way.
Oh, Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be.
Oh, Monday, Monday, how could you leave and not take me?
Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah.
But whenever Monday comes – but whenever Monday comes
You can find me crying all of the time.

Feelin’ groovy

Posted on 18/April/2019 by John McCrarey

Well, actually I haven’t felt groovy since around 1969. But that old song came up in my playlist while hiking yesterday so I thought I’d put the title to use. These days everything might not be right on, but my life is pretty far out and all things considered that’s outta sight! Damn, I can still speak 1970s.

So, I didn’t do the Wednesday Sausage Walkers yesterday, although I had planned to. In fact I was the first one to arrive at Angel’s Bakery for the meetup. When the Germans announced we’d be taking the Hashmobile out to some place I’d never heard of and walking back, I bailed. The thing is I’m just not thrilled that this Aryan contingent tends to like to take things to the extreme. They prefer the longest and hardest trail they can find. That’s good for them, but I’m 63 fucking years old with respiratory issues and it’s hot as hell these days. I’ll go with the group here in Barretto and find my own way back when I’ve had enough. Being driven out of town and dropped off in parts unknown precludes that option. So no thank you!

I’m used to walking on my own and so that’s what I did. I decided to forego my standard hikes and look for something a little different. I had a particular area in mind I wanted to explore but one turn led to another and I never found my way there. Ah well, another day I’ll try again. Most of what I did was new so in that regard, mission accomplished.

Pretty much all flat and easy. I did get a little lost when the path I was on seemed to end in someone’s yard. Some local kids were kind enough to point me back to the road and then followed along until I found it. I rewarded them with 20 pesos each and that sure did put smiles on their faces!

Via Facebook comes the news that my friend Mi Young Han has been named the Camp Humphreys Volunteer of the Year. I wrote about her and the work she was doing almost single-handedly for the Asan Angels animal shelter here.

Her hard work and dedication were quite the inspiration. I would help out financially, but she did all the heavy lifting. I was able to assist with getting the word out on base and she has a crew of volunteers assisting her now. Way to go Mi Young!

I developed a bit of a crush on her I admit, but alas, it was never mutual. If only I’d been a stray dog!

Speaking of dogs, I can thank Mi Young for inspiring me to do the rescue thing. I’m not sure who’s benefited more, me or the dogs, but I’m glad to have them.

***And Lucky is loving feeling healthy again I think. He’s making a good transition to being indoors more frequently, no “accidents” for two days now!***

Yesterday’s hike took me near “Easter” mountain. That’s not the real name, but it’s the traditional place where believers climb up on Easter morning to see the sunrise. And the Hash will do the climb on Monday.

***I’m told it’s a real motherfucker to climb. The Hare next week is Bush Diver and he’s in his seventies. I’m thinking if he can do it so can I. I reckon will find out soon enough.***

In the meantime, Keep on Truckin’!

Most of the cats that you meet on the streets speak of true love,
Most of the time they’re sittin’ and cryin’ at home.
One of these days they know they better get goin’
Out of the door and down on the streets all alone.
Truckin’, like the do-dah man. Once told me “You’ve got to play your hand”
Sometimes your cards ain’t worth a dime, if you don’t lay’em down,
Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me,
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it’s been.

As long as I live

Posted on 16/April/2019 by John McCrarey

A good Hash yesterday. Shorter than normal but with a couple of moderate climbs and some nice vistas. I’m not going to worry anymore about my upcoming trail. I deem it long enough especially in light of the fact that no one really complained the hike yesterday was too short.

I guess my biggest worry will be pulling off the “on-home” at my house. The logistics of finding chairs and a place to sit and eat need to be worked out. I’m also concerned that I don’t have any lighting in the area where the Hash circle will be conducted. Might look into getting some camping lanterns.

As for food, well I’m not set up to feed 30+ hungry Hashers. I’ll cover the paper plates/utensils and order up some takeout pizza and wings. I might do a big batch of chili in the crockpot and bake up some cornbread muffins. Hey, beggars can’t be choosers!

***The first section was new to me and I rather enjoyed it. The rest of the trail was stuff I do on my standard walks, including a good portion of “My Bitch”. Short and sweet. I like it!***

***A different angle on a familiar view.***

***Looking down on my hometown of Barrio Barretto.***

In other news, I haven’t been feeling real well of late. Not sure if it is heat related or what, but I’m experiencing some shortness of breath. Sometimes I pant when I walk, but mostly it’s confined to when I’m sleeping. Could be the lying down exacerbates my COPD. Still nothing at all like I used to experience back before I was diagnosed and started taking my meds. Hopefully this too shall pass.

Well, none of us are going to live forever, but I came across this article that purports to calculate how many healthy years of life you have left. Of course it is probably all BS, but I took the quiz anyway. I had to smile when I saw the calculator was developed by “UCONN”, the unfortunate acronym for the University of Connecticut. Here are my results:

Your predicted future healthy years is 26.4 Years
Your Relative Healthy Life Expectancy is about 23.8% above Average
Your predicted future unhealthy years is 5.0 Years
Your predicted future total years of living is 31.4 Years i.e. Your predicted age at death is 63 + 31.4 (Current Age + Life Expectancy) = 94.4 Years
Your predicted future unhealthy years, if disabled by a cognitive disease, is 7.8 Years

How does my lifestyle affect my Healthy Life Expectancy?
You are doing a great job exercising, keep up the great work
At the moment your BMI is looking good, but make sure you keep an eye on it
By sleeping more each night you can increase your healthy life expectancy by 6.46% which is about 20.5 months
By reducing your alcohol consumption each week you can increase your healthy life expectancy by 10.35% which is about 32.8 months
Not smoking has a positive impact on your healthy life expectancy

Hmm. I can’t imagine living into my nineties. And you think the blog is boring now? They say I should drink less and sleep more to boot? How about we compromise and I do what I want, when I want and stay active and healthy until I’m 85. Deal?

Here’s the link to the calculator if you are curious how golden your golden years might be. Oh, and if you get hit by a bus whilst crossing the highway, all bets are off!

I’m not scared of dying
And I, don’t really care
If it’s peace you find in dying
Well then, let the time be near

If it’s peace you find in dying
Well then dying time is near
Just bundle up my coffin
‘Cause it’s cold way down there
I hear that it’s
Cold way down there, yeah
Crazy cold, way down there

And when I die, and when I’m gone
There’ll be, one child born
In this world
To carry on, to carry on

Now troubles are many
They’re as
Deep as a well
I can swear there ain’t no Heaven
But I pray there ain’t no hell
Swear there ain’t no Heaven
And I’ll pray there ain’t no hell
But I’ll never know by livin’
Only my dyin’ will tell, yes only my
Dyin’ will tell, oh yeah
Only my dyin’ will tell

And when I die, and when I’m gone
There’ll be, one child born, in this world
To carry on, to carry on

Whistling Dixie

Posted on 15/April/2019 by John McCrarey

I had to laugh when Nike got called out and deleted this ad a few hours after publishing it:

I’m not familiar with Nike Trail, perhaps it is a Confederation. I guess pulling the ad was less offensive than starting a Civil War over it. The actual content of the ad and what it States is Right. This is just one more casualty in the War of Northern (liberal) Aggression. So the ad has gone South but perhaps one day it will Rise Again!

I’m no fan of Nike regardless. I swore off their products when they hired Kaepernick as their spokesmodel. I mean, I’ve got quite a bit of Nike shit that I still use, but will replace them with other products when the time comes.

I don’t want to come off like I’m virtue signaling with my personal boycotts. But as a consumer I’m just not interested in supporting companies that don’t share my values. I stopped buying Gillette products when they announced they didn’t like men like me to be men like me. And I canceled my Netflix account (which truth be told I never used much anyway) when they hired Susan Rice to be on their Board of Directors. Does it make a difference? Of course not. I do it for me and my own personal satisfaction, I don’t expect to have an impact on a company’s bottom line. So there.

Enough about politics, how about this:

As my high school coach once asked “McCrarey, are you ignorant or just apathetic?” I replied “I don’t know and I don’t care!”

Yeah, yeah, I know. Thousands of comedians out of work and I’m trying to be funny.

***Alright, now that’s funny, admit it.***

It rained on me during my morning walk today. At first it was kind of refreshing, then it gave me a good soaking. Well, soaked with sweat or soaked with water is really all about the same. Still, it was some relief from the heat, so there’s that. Not raining now so it should be a pleasant afternoon for the Hash.

And there you have it.

I wish I was in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie Land.
In Dixie Land where I was born in, early on a frosty mornin’,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie Land.

Then I wish I was in Dixie, hooray! hooray!
In Dixie Land I’ll take my stand to live and die in Dixie,
Away, away, away down South in Dixie,
Away, away, away down South in Dixie.

The low spark of high heeled boys…

Posted on 14/April/2019 by John McCrarey

***Watching the sun go down from Cheap Charlies…***

***I cooked up a batch of ribs yesterday…***

***And ordered the beef stew from Foodies tonight…***

***Standard walk #4– Alta Vista–San Isidro–Santa Monica–Alta Vista.***

***Standard walk #5: Alta Vista–Marian Hills–“My Bitch”–Columban College–Barretto–Alta Vista.***

***When everything is “free” the Price is Never Right!***

And that’s all I got. Just another day in paradise.

If you had just a minute to breathe and they granted you one final wish
Would you ask for something like another chance?
Or something similar as this? Don’t worry too much
It’ll happen to you as sure as your sorrows are joys
And the thing that disturbs you is only the sound of
The low spark of high-heeled boys
If I gave you everything that I owned and asked for nothing in return
Would you do the same for me as I would for you?
Or take me for a ride, and strip me of everything including my pride
But spirit is something that no one destroys
And the sound that I’m hearing is only the sound
The low spark of high-heeled boys

Regarding women

Posted on 13/April/2019 by John McCrarey

***Well, my pension is lots more than that but I ain’t got no Filipina looking that good either.***

In the comments to a recent post, Kevin Kim asks: What’s the problem with Western women? After providing some examples of issues he has experienced with Asian women, Kev poses the question:
So who’s more damaged (or kooky, or whatever), in your view? Western ladies or Asian ones? Why do you think so?

Well, if there is one thing I have in this life, it is a long and storied history with women. My relationship failures would make for a great romantic comedy (of errors), if they hadn’t happened to me. It’s hard to laugh in the face of pain. Still, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? So I am going to endeavor to answer the questions posed as honestly as I can. The only caveat being that these are only my experience based opinions. It is not my intent to stereotype all women with particular characteristics, I can only speak to the ones who were crazy enough to be with me.

Alright then, let’s go. It is no secret to long time readers that I’ve had four wives. And I acknowledge and accept the fact that I am the only common denominator in each of those relationships. So yeah, it could be that I’m the problem. Three of my spouses were American, the last was a Korean. And I really don’t have anything bad to say about any of them. And when I said that I’d never be with a Western woman again it was primarily based on two factors–I live in the Philippines where foreign women are scarce; and I find Asian women much more attractive. Yeah, I’m that shallow.

It’s not necessarily all about physical beauty either. I’m attracted to the Asian mentality that a woman should take care of her man. Granted, they are not always sincere when they display that warm and loving nature, but Asian women tend to be more traditional in relationship roles. A Western woman is much more likely to say “make your own damn sandwich!”. So there’s that.

When I first came to Korea I was blown away at being surrounded by so many sexy females. You might say I caught the yellow fever. Don’t say that to a Korean woman though. I made that mistake once and it didn’t go over well at all! I wrote a rather long treatise about Korean females on an internet forum back in 2015. It goes into great detail about some of my personal experiences dating and loving the most beautiful women in Asia. Give it a read if you are so inclined.

So I eventually married a Korean woman. I loved her, she loved me and we built a life together. Was it perfect? Far from it. But I was committed to the choice I had made. Right up until she told me she didn’t have a happy life with me and wanted a divorce. I honestly do not know what happened or why she was so unhappy. She wouldn’t, or couldn’t tell me. And that language and communication barrier probably had a lot to do with it.

So the marriage failed and I was back in the market for love. And then I experienced some of the bad kind of crazy Kevin talks about in his comment. And that led me to conclude that love is just not worth the pain it brings. So I came up with a brand new plan. I wrote about that plan here. Actually, those two links probably answer the questions posed better and more thoroughly than I’m doing here. Suffice to say, the “plan” to just employ a Filipina to do all the things a girlfriend/wife would do without all the “love” bullshit blew up spectacularly in my face. Because I fell in love with her.

And what should have been a happy ending for us both was not to be. She chose instead to betray me and fall in love with another man. Just my luck, huh? Well, actually it was lucky for me. I had totally misjudged her nature and her character. If I had trusted her with my future I would have been in much worse shape than I am today. As I often tell myself, there are worse things than being alone.

But I digress. I have failed with Western women and I have failed with Asian women. I’m living in a country filled with beautiful brown skinned ladies and I haven’t given up hope that someday the right one for me will present herself and I will not be so jaded that I fail to seize the opportunity. In the meantime I’ll just keep on living the life that is not all it could be, but that is certainly good enough.

So here are my answers:

There is nothing wrong with Western women, they just don’t attract me.

In my experience Asian women are more damaged/kooky than Western women. The why of that is probably partly attributable to cultural differences and communication differences. Or maybe that is just the kind of Asian woman who is attracted to Western men.

As any honest woman would tell me “I’d have to be crazy to go out with you!”.

To all the girls I’ve loved before
Who traveled in and out my door
I’m glad they came along
I dedicate this song
To all the girls I’ve loved before
To all the girls I once caressed
And may I say, I’ve held the best
For helping me to grow, I owe a lot, I know
To all the girls I’ve loved before
The winds of change are always blowing
And every time I tried to stay
The winds of change continued blowing
And they just carried me a way
To all the girls who shared my life
Who now are someone else’s wife
I’m glad they came along
I dedicate this song
To all the girls I’ve loved before
To all the girls who cared for me
Who filled my nights with ecstasy
They live within my heart
I’ll always be a part
Of all the girls I’ve loved before
The winds of change are always blowing
And every time I tried to stay
The winds of change continued blowing
And they just carried me way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZsYppthn7c

A hard day’s night

Posted on 12/April/2019 by John McCrarey

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.

***Played our dart league match at Johan’s Dive Resort. It seems this diver statue was giving us the congratulatory “you’re number 1” salute. Thanks for that!***

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.

***This is “My Bitch” via Rizal Extension. I had no idea it would look a little bit like a dick pic. Wasn’t even trying…***

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!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEi9kKsvDZs

On the road again

Posted on 11/April/2019 by John McCrarey

Well, I’m so tired of crying
But I’m out on the road again
I’m on the road again
Well, I’m so tired of crying
But I’m out on the road again
I’m on the road again
I ain’t got no woman
Just to call my special friend

Just another day in paradise, doing what I do. Which ain’t much but it’s all I got.

Actually what I do is getting more challenging as the weather warms up. We are just coming into “hot” season which seems to be evaporating my motivation to get out and walk. I haven’t given up though, just making some concessions like going out for the longer hikes later in the afternoon. I started today’s effort at 2:00 p.m. when I at least had a bit of a breeze and the sun wasn’t quite as high in the sky. Oh well, rainy season is right around the corner.

***Standard hike #2: Alta Vista-Baloy Beach-San Isidro-Alta Vista. Mostly flat.***

Anyway, working hard to try and keep the blues away. My rational mind knows I’m a lucky bastard. And my heart keeps saying “yeah, but what about me?” My response to that is “shut up, loser!”

Seriously, I’m fine. Transitions and adjustments are sometimes challenging, but this too shall pass. I actually had a dream last night where I fell in love. It was pretty fuckin’ awesome because she loved me back. We even laughed at each other’s jokes. Only weird thing about it was she was a Western woman. That ain’t likely to happen in this lifetime. Still, it was a good reminder that settling for less is for suckers.

I hear it’s siblings day so here’s a shout out to my brothers. Neither of which reads my blog, but that’s okay.

***I’ve got to give the bros credit. I got both the brains and the good looks and neither of them outwardly show much jealously. That must really take some self-discipline.***

And now it’s beer o’clock so I reckon I’ll head out and contemplate life and all the lessons I’ve declined to learn. Cheers!

But I ain’t going down
That long old lonesome road
All by myself
But I ain’t going down
That long old lonesome road
All by myself
I can’t carry you, baby
Gonna carry somebody else

I actually saw Canned Heat in concert back in my high school days. This was their biggest hit. And it is was only today that I learned the song was written by Willie Nelson. I’ll be damned.

UPDATE: Well, this makes three times I’ve used the “on the road again” title. The first was in September 2010, a worthless (well, more worthless than normal) post about going to the East Sea.

I used it again in September 2015 about making the commute from Gireum to Yongsan in my new old car. Back when I still had a wife to help me navigate my life.

Who me?

Posted on 10/April/2019 by John McCrarey

Lucky is doing better each day and seems to be settling into his new home just fine. Him and his step-brother Buddy are best friends now. One challenge has been getting Lucky house broken, but no “accidents” today, so fingers crossed!

Did the Wednesday Sausage Walk today. Only five of us this time. The Germans took the lead and we headed up the big mountain on a trail Gunther calls “motherfucker”, which turns out to be aptly named. Once on top it was a pretty easy hike along the ridge. After a lunch break the Germans wanted to take a trail down into Olongapo City then climb back up “the stairway to heaven”. Me and the Aussie along for the hike said no thanks to that, and made our own way back to Barretto.

***The beginning: We always start out from Angels Bakery.***

***The middle: Almost 12K on a very hot day. I call that good enough!***

***Along the way: Typical nice views from near the top.***

The finish: As is our custom we ended up at Cheap Charlies for liquid refreshment. Me and the Aussie were there for an hour and the Germans still had not made it back. I’d say I made the right call on taking the shorter path!

***In unrelated news, I had corn dogs for supper last night at Sit-n-Bull. Been years and years since I’ve indulged that treat and they were in fact quite excellent!***

And that brings y’all up to date on my so-called life. Birthday party and darts tonight at Alley Cats so I’d best get on it.

Dicking around

Posted on 09/April/2019 by John McCrarey

Daughter Avery sent me a link to a story about a woman who draws dicks on her fitness GPS maps. She’s got quite the talent for it:

Some of these look long and hard. *ahem*

Avery suggested I give it a try so I did this one while walking the dogs this morning.

***Cut me some slack, it was a virgin effort!***

Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be spending much time trying to improve my dick pics. Face it, I’m just not into dicks and they are certainly not into me. Not that there is anything wrong with it.

I found a better map option on my fitness tracker and I’ll be using it to document some of my standard hikes. This morning I did one of my regular walking trails, all on city streets. It looks like this:

***When I walk it in the opposite direction, I usually take the beach.***

Speaking of hiking, yesterday’s Hash was a little disappointing. The Hares did a poor job marking the trail and I lost it a couple of times. Even though I was able to eventually reconnect with the intended route it was frustrating. I wound up short-cutting the trail because I lost faith in the Hares and didn’t want to proceed up into the hills only to get lost yet again.

The other thing that made the Hash a little awkward was my breakup with Salty Cum/Marissa. I was surprised to see her there as she had told me she wouldn’t be coming. She did not walk with me however and also did not join me during the beer drinking when we were on-home for the after Hash activities. Watching her sitting and laughing with her Hash girlfriends made me a little uncomfortable for some reason.

Anyway, it is what it is and I keep telling myself it is for the best. Just got to stay strong and move on out to find the next big thing.

After Life

Posted on 08/April/2019 by John McCrarey

I haven’t watched much television on Netflix or elsewhere for several years now. I know I’m missing out on some good stuff and perhaps I’ll find a way to build a couple of hours a day in front of the TV screen. Via Althouse comes information on a Netflix series starring one of my favorites, Ricky Gervais:

The show centers around Tony (Gervais), a middle-aged journalist whose “perfect life” has been reduced to dust since his wife died of cancer. After contemplating taking his own life, he decides instead to live long enough to punish the world by saying and doing whatever he likes from now on. He thinks it’s like a Super Power, but eventually finds out life is more complicated, when everyone around him tries to save the nice guy they used to know.

This description from Gervais really resonated with me:

“At the end of the day, it’s all those little mundane interactions that actually save your life — they’re the variety of life, they stop you from feeling too sorry for yourself. He’s got to take the dog for a walk, he’s got to go to work to make money to get drunk, and after all that, time heals,” Gervais explained to Variety in an interview.

Yeah, that’s what I was getting at (or trying to) in my post on boredom the other day. I’m going through some stuff these past couple of days but my routines do seem to help relieve the stress and mental turmoil. Like today’s walk:

The squiggly lines up top are my morning walk in Alta Vista with Buddy. The long straight line in the middle is the walk with Lucky to the vet for shots. We took a trike back. And finally, I did my Baloy Beach hike. Still to come, this afternoon’s Hash.

I know this is just a passage to a better place.

Crazy
I’m crazy for feeling so lonely
I’m crazy
Crazy for feeling so blue
I knew
You’d love me as long as you wanted
And then some day
You’d leave me for somebody new
Worry
Why do I let myself worry?
Wondering
What in the world did I do…
Oh, crazy
For thinking that my love could hold you…
I’m crazy for trying
And crazy for crying
And I’m crazy for loving you

A little Genesis…

Posted on 07/April/2019 by John McCrarey

In the beginning there was a trail for the runners. It adds an additional 3 kilometers to the walkers trail.

***It joins the walkers trail at the 5km point and the walkers have done 2K by then. So it looks like it will be a 6/9 split which ain’t too bad.***

Going to be boring for the runners though. Pretty much all flat, goes through a subdivision, then up the Govic highway and through San Isidro. Well, they want distance so fuck ’em if they don’t like my trail.

Getting there.

Death…

Posted on 07/April/2019 by John McCrarey

…and taxes.

Well, I’m still alive so it’s time to pay the piper. Just got word from my accountant that I’m indebted to Uncle Sam again this year. However, since I only worked half the year my tax bill has decreased from over $8000. to only $12. this year. Now that is what I consider good news!

I’m afraid hot season is now upon us. Makes it especially hard to maintain my motivation to get out there and walk. I’m going to wait until later this afternoon to get some steps in, maybe it won’t be so damn unbearable. Almost has me wishing I could be complaining about rainy season instead.

There are other changes on the horizon but I’m going to let them play out before I report about it. Just gotta stay strong in the meantime.

That’s all I’ve got for today.

Are you bored?

Posted on 06/April/2019 by John McCrarey

“You can appreciate Schubert if you train yourself. I was the same way when I first listened to him—it bored me silly. It’s only natural for someone your age. In time you’ll appreciate it. People soon get tired of things that aren’t boring, but not of what is boring. Go figure. For me, I might have the leisure to be bored, but not to grow tired of something. Most people can’t distinguish between the two.”
— Haruki Murakami

If you are visiting LTG on a regular basis then chances are you are indeed bored out of your mind. And if you are not bored now you likely will be after reading this post. I’m only half-kidding when I say that people like my blog because it makes them feel better about their own lives.

Anyway, Althouse was blogging about boredom today. She included a link to a long and boring Wikipedia article on boredom. There is also this quiz you can take to discover how easily you get bored. My result was that I have an average propensity to become bored. So nothing to get excited about I suppose.

I’ve been retired now going on one year. Do I find my life boring? Surprisingly, and notwithstanding the drivel I post here, for the most part no, I do not. I have my daily routines and rituals and they pass the time, however comfortably and well*. I wake each morning at 0600, spend some time on the internets, walk the dogs, have breakfast, walk myself, take a nap, try to blog here, take another walk, shower, drink beer/throw darts, then sleep around 10 p.m. Every fucking day of my life. Well, sometimes I’ll travel and do the above in a new location. And I am plotting some international travel in the coming months.

Is that enough? For now it has to be. Could it be better? Hell yes! For example, I’d love to have someone to love and share my life with. But I’m not really able to open myself up to the pain and disappointment that potentially comes with the love thing just yet. As I often remind myself, there are worse things than being alone

**This pretty much captures how I fee**l.

Had a brief and drunken text chat with the last woman I loved yesterday. She told me she has chosen to be happy in life and that “happiness is within”. Well, if that works for her I’m glad. But it smells like bullshit to me. Don’t get me wrong, I am not unhappy. I am content with this life I have chosen. I have all I need to live comfortably and worry-free. Living here is a daily reminder that my first world problems truly are meaningless.

**I’m not dead inside quite yet. And I hope to keep it that way**!

I can’t control what the people around me do or how they choose to live their life. What I can control is who I let into MY life. Unfortunately, I’ve demonstrated an amazing inability to judge the true nature of another person’s character. So I’m often disappointed and frequently taken advantage of by so-called friends. I know who I am and what is in my heart and I’ll continue to live my life in a manner that in some small way might make a difference. I’ll do unto others not as they’ve done unto me. I’m bound to have some good Karma coming my way eventually.

Man oh man, talk about going off on a tangent. Bored yet?

Let’s get back on track. Facebook reminded me that two years ago I was meeting the U.S. Ambassador to Korea.

***And giving the clenched fist salute My Way!***

I enjoyed my working life and the intellectual stimulation it provided. Now I have 8+ more hours to fill each day and for the most part I spend them alone. Or with other drunk expats. But although I’m not often mentally challenged, I think I’m staying engaged on some level. The hours I spend hiking are also hours I spend thinking. Or listening to music. Sometimes both at the same time! Nothing boring about that.

Today’s hike. That bow-tie looking thing is where I was searching for that extra kilometer to add to my upcoming Hash trail. I’ve got a small addition on the back now. Perhaps I can add a bit more towards the front. I’ve still got a month to work it out.

***And in the meantime I’ll still make time to stop and smell the flowers.***

I’m a lucky bastard with too much time on his hands.

Sitting on this barstool talking like a damn fool
Got the twelve o’clock news blues
And I’ve given up hope for the afternoon soaps
And a bottle of cold brew
Is it any wonder I’m not crazy? Is it any wonder I’m sane at all
Well I’m so tired of losing- I got nothing to do and all day to do it
I go out cruisin’ but I’ve no place to go and all night to get there
Is it any wonder I’m not a criminal?
Is it any wonder I’m not in jail?
Is it any wonder I’ve got

Too much time on my hands?
It’s ticking away with my sanity
I’ve got too much time on my hands
It’s hard to believe such a calamity
I’ve got too much time on my hands
And it’s ticking away, ticking away from me
Too much time on my hands
(It’s t-t-t-t-ticking away)
Too much time on my hands
(And I don’t know what to do with myself)
Too much time on my hands

*when I wrote “however comfortably and well” it felt like something I had read somewhere, maybe in a Hemingway short story. I googled it and came up with nothing. If it’s plagiarism it’s unintentional…

On this day

Posted on 05/April/2019 by John McCrarey

Welp, it looks like I’ve been officially designated the Hare for the Hash on May 13. In preparation for that event I went out this morning to measure the trail I’ve been working on.

***This is the short version for us walkers. It incorporates most of “My Bitch”. Still would like to find a seamless way to add another kilometer or so.***

As it turns out May 13 is also election day here in the Philippines. That’s significant because Filipinos are not permitted to consume alcohol during elections. The bars here in Barretto are granted a waiver to serve foreigners only, but we have quite a few Filipinas in our kennel.
Since our beer is self-serve from ice chests it would be difficult to enforce a no-drinking edict. And that could pose a problem for our “on-home” venue should a Filipina be caught drinking. So one solution is to have the on-home activities done at, well, someone’s home. Heidi has a great house for it but we need to confirm she is willing. My house is Plan B. Stay tuned.

On this day four years ago I was meeting up with Kevin Kim and Young Chun to celebrate the publication of Young’s book The Accidental Citizen-Soldier (and to get my copy autographed of course).

And on this day six years ago promises were being made that were destined to be broken.

Speaking of Kevin Kim, on this day fourteen years ago I was discovering his blog Big Hominid’s Hairy Chasms. And posts like this one have kept me coming back for all these years. Those photos of hiking Namsan really make me homesick for Seoul.

Anyway, that’s the past and my future for better or worse is here in the Philippines. Forward march!

UPDATE: HaHa! This makes FIVE times I’ve used the “On this day” title. Perhaps it’s a sign I’ve been blogging too long. Nah, that can’t be it.

Anyway, on December 12, 2018 I recognized the 14th anniversary of the birth of LTG.

On June 22, 2018 I wrote about getting settled into my new (current) house here in Alta Vista.

On March 11, 2018 I blogged out some birthday love for my son Kevin.

And finally, the first time I used ” On this day” was back on January 25, 2015. I was talking about the excitement that comes with making up some burritos at home. And coincidentally, I was linked to a funny story from Kevin Kim’s blog about his encounter with the Korean National Police. Good stuff.

Long Time Gone

Category Archives: Life in the Philippines