Only me and Gary showed up for the Friday group hike, but we put in our steps with a pleasant walk through Matain, Calapacuan, San Isidro, and Santo Tomas. Here’s some of what we saw along the way:

A healthy start to the day. How did it finish? Like this:

I began my Friday evening with an invite to the Alley Cats bar for their Christmas party. It’s been a while since my last visit, and there has been an almost complete turnover in staff. The same owners and the dart players were all familiar, so catching up with folks was nice. The party was supposed to start at five, with a tournament at six. I knew I wouldn’t be participating in dart action, so I planned to meet up with Swan when I left Alley Cats. Alas, there was a delay in the food prep, and folks didn’t start eating until six, so I bailed out on the best part of the party. I did at least contribute a batch of brownies to the mix.

Swan messaged that she was with some friends at BarCelona and asked that I meet them there, so off I went.

After a couple of beers with the group, my missing the food at Alley Cats began to invade my thoughts in the form of hunger pangs. I suggested to Swan that we pay our tab and give Mugshots a try. And that is just what we did.

I’m a very infrequent visitor to Mugshots, even though it is a nice venue with a good kitchen. We ordered up fried chicken wings and buffalo wings. Both were quite tasty. Once again I was surprised that the bar staff, waitresses, and owner all greeted me by name. I mean, it’s nice to be recognized, but a little disconcerting for some reason. Anyway, no other customers during our visit, which doesn’t bode well for a Friday night. Hopefully they did better later.

As is our custom, we headed for home after Mugshots and arrived around 8:30. I caught an episode of “Shameless” then hit the hay.

Oh, speaking of “Shameless,” my fellow traveler Scott sent me a clip from a Season 9 episode (I’m only on Season 6) featuring the late Bob Saget remembering his Navy days in Subic Bay. It’s hilarious and is worth the three-minute investment of time:

And now it is Saturday. I began the day with a hot cup of coffee and this view from my desk:

We shall see what the rest of Saturday holds in store. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

And a bonus pun:

I was going to use Jackson Brown’s “The Road” for today’s song, but discovered I’ve used it before. So, here’s another old favorite from the days of my childhood listening along with my daddy’s record player.

There wasn’t much about yesterday that will make it memorable, mostly just more of the same old, same old. A boring 6K solo street walk to start the day, lasagna for lunch, a blog post, and a nap. My plans for the evening included visiting Whiskey Girl to wish my favorites, Jenn and Kim, a merry Christmas. I also baked up a batch of brownies to share with the crew.

Whiskey Girl doesn’t open until 6:00 p.m., so I sat my ass down at Sloppy Joe’s to wait it out.

My pal Chris and his gal Shie were there, so I had some company I didn’t have to pay for. Chris got control of the music remote and asked what I wanted to hear. I recalled that the forty-first anniversary of the death of Marty Robbins had recently occurred, so I suggested we play one of his songs as a tribute. Judging that the Sloppy crowd might not appreciate old fashioned country western music, I selected a more mainstream tune, “Don’t Worry”:

The song is from 1961, and my father was a big Marty Robbins fan. I still remember him coming home from work, putting an album on the record player, opening a beer, and sitting back in his easy chair to relax and enjoy the music. It’s funny the things you remember from your childhood when some days it’s hard to remember your name.

So, beers were drank, music was played (I also requested some Doors songs), and time passed. A few minutes before six, I headed up the highway to take care of my business at Whiskey Girl. I arrived a couple of minutes early, but the sliding steel door was still closed and locked. Some guy did arrive on a motorbike right at six to open the door, but since none of the staff were waiting to get inside, I knew it was pointless to pursue the effort.

Meanwhile, I got a message from Swan saying she was going to meet Aine at Wet Spot at 7 p.m. Apparently, Aine had asked to “borrow” some money, and Swan had consented to accommodate some, but not all, of the request. What Swan does with her money is none of my business, but we both know it is unlikely ever to be repaid. Anyway, with my Whiskey Girl plans foiled, I told Swan I would see her at Wet Spot.

I arrived at Wet Spot and put my “buy one, get one” coupon to work. I bought Irene, my waitress, a lady drink but when Aine approached the table, I told her Swan would be arriving soon, and she took the hint and departed. When Swan got there, Aine came back, but then one of her regulars arrived, and I was more than happy to have him buying Aine’s lady drinks all night. I used my savings (and a 10% discount coupon) to order dinner for me, Swan and Irene for delivery from Sit-n-Bull. The brownies I’d baked were shared with all the girls and seemed appreciated. We drank until a little after eight, Swan slipped Aine the “loan” in the CR, and we departed for home. I watched another episode of “Shameless” and then enjoyed a good night’s sleep.

As I say, there was nothing special about the day, but nothing wrong with it either. As far as I remember anyway.

My buddy Scott provided me a map of the portions of Kalaklan Ridge that we have Hashed in the past.

I also seemed to recall that a group that had hiked from Barretto to Angeles City (80K) had used the Kalaklan Ridge trail. Turns out my memory was mostly faulty. They went thisaway:

This YouTube video of that adventure is a good watch:

The days when I had the physical ability to tackle a hike this are just a memory now.

In checking for title duplication, I came across this post from 2007 telling the story of my boss’ death and the obituary I wrote. Not all memories are happy ones.

Speaking of memories, Facebook let loose an onslaught of them today:

Time moves on, and perhaps one day, I will look back at the memories I’m making now.

And I didn’t forget your Star Wars Trek pun:

Alright then, it’s time to leave the past behind and get on with the rest of today. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow!

This is my last best opportunity to post today, so let’s get to it. Luckily, there isn’t much to say. The early start is dictated by my participation with the Wednesday Walkers at 0830 this morning, to be followed this afternoon with the rare dart league appearance. Yeah, I got drafted to fill in again. Haven’t thrown since the last time I was asked, so I’ll likely live up to my nickname of “better than a forfeit.” We shall see.

Yesterday saw me complete my grocery shopping chore, supplementing my Royal experience with a trip to Pure Gold as well.

I also finally made a successful ATM cash withdrawal. Speaking of which, I visited the BPI bank branch where the ATM didn’t dispense any money, but my US bank account had the funds withdrawn. I assumed it would be an easy fix (just show me the money), but it doesn’t work that way. There was “complaint form” paperwork to complete and an investigation to be conducted, and if my complaint is validated, the money will be returned to my account “in two weeks.” Ironically, I had an uncle who was a bank robber. Never expected the bank to rob me, though.

My lazy afternoon included beginning Season 6 of “Shameless.” I’m sticking with it even though the show is seemingly all about sex, booze, and drugs. Hmm, I guess I just answered why. But seriously, despite its repetitive plot lines, the underlying stories keep it interesting.

And then me and my gal hoofed it out to Baloy Beach to spend some time on the Kokomo floating bar.

When we first arrived, there was only one table of tattooed drunks, but the music was blasting at insane levels, and I was thinking this was going to be a short visit. But they departed before I downed my first beer, then the volume went down, and the song selection improved. Go figure.

Swan drank red wine, I had San Mig Light (about three bottles per each glass of wine), and we soaked up the on-the-water ambiance as we passed the time.

We enjoyed dinner at D’Kudos, then caught a trike for home. Life is good!

Yesterday featured another fruitless quest for cash, a Hideaway feeding, and some quality time spent floating on the water. Yep, just another day in the life here in my version of paradise.

I don’t know if it is related to the enhanced breathing, but I’ve been feeling a tad more energetic of late. Hence, when contemplating my Sunday solo walk, I was willing to make the perilous journey on the National Highway to SBMA (the old Navy base) in an attempt to extract funds from the ATM at Harbor Point Mall. It had been quite some time since I’d walked this route because the heavy traffic and narrow shoulders made it less enjoyable than most of my hikes. Still, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Coincidentally, Facebook memories reminded me of a walk I did three years ago where I took a photograph every one thousand steps. That may have been the last time I used that technique (nowadays, I use the 1.6K method), so I thought, why not give it a shot this time?

Ready? Here goes:

So, I get to the ATM at the BPI bank branch, insert my card, punch in the numbers, the machine makes the usual whirring sound as it counts the money, and then–nothing. A receipt comes out saying the cash could not be dispensed. I turned the machine over to the person waiting behind me and wished them good luck. I waited to see what would happen, and her transaction went through. Okay then, I’ll try again. She suggested I only withdraw 10,000 pesos, so I gave that a try. Nope, no dice. What’s up with that? So, I got home and checked my bank account, and it showed 30,000 pesos in ATM withdrawals. It seems BPI withdrew my funds and then didn’t dispense any money to me. Hopefully, they will self-correct the error; otherwise, I’ll visit the branch tomorrow.

Frustrating, to be sure, but nothing to be done but make the best of it. I did that by paying a visit to the Burger King inside the mall and having myself a meal.

I briefly considered walking back home, but I took a taxi instead. These are unmetered taxis, so I always ask the fare first, and when the driver said 500 pesos, I told him I usually only pay 400 and started to get out. He came back with 450, and I said okay. When I arrived home I gave him a 500 peso note and told him, Merry Christmas, keep the change.

Later in the afternoon, I baked a batch of brownies for the Hideaway girls and had their desired meals delivered from Jewel Cafe.

I left a little earlier than usual so I could enjoy the sunset from the Arizona floating bar.

The floating bar was very busy when I first arrived, and once again there was a large group of free spenders having a good time. I guess I was either remembered or putting out a vibe, because none of the unoccupied girls wasted anytime trying to extract lady drinks from me. Didn’t matter to me, I had company on the way.

We stayed until dark, then headed ashore. Had a nightcap at Oasis, then triked home for some smoothies and a little Netflix entertainment. I’ve been sleeping better, too–over seven hours a night the past few days.

And now it is Hash Monday. The trail is in Subic, and I’ve already been involved in the scouting, so I know what I’m in for. I’m going to take the easy route and avoid the jungle I encountered on Friday’s hike.

See you all tomorrow.

A 10K walk to Subic town and back was pretty much all I had in me, but I got it done. Well, everything except the purpose of the walk:

I did take note of a new eatery nearby:

I finished the walk at Sit-n-Bull and brought home an El Padre burrito as a reward for my efforts, fruitless though they proved to be.

The highlight of the evening hours was dinner at John’s place with Swan.

I’ve had worse Saturdays, that’s for sure.

I guess you have to give credit where credit is due, but Biden is doing the work of three men.

Hmm, why didn’t I think of that?

Anyhoo, another quest for cash this morning. I’ll share that adventure tomorrow. I also have the Sunday Hideaway feeding ahead of me, and I’m thinking a return visit to the Arizona floating bar might be just what I need. Stay tuned!

My four days of doctor-mandated post-operative rest have ended, and I celebrated by hitting the road.

This morning, I successfully completed my first hill climb in over a month with the Friday group. It wasn’t easy, but it never was. Even my fellow hikers commented that I was breathing quietly these days.

As for my nighttime activities, I was never all that much incapacitated, but I’m definitely back fully in the swing of things. I started my evening at Sloppy Joe’s, where I reviewed the status of my remaining SOB coupons. Two were due to expire at midnight–a “buy one, get one” at Green Room and a five hundred peso voucher at Whiskey Girl. I planned to move next door to Green Room, drinking for an hour until 6 p.m. when Whiskey Girl opened for business. I finished my third Sloppy beer, said goodnight to Troy and Chris, and headed for Green Room.

I settled into a seat at my favorite table and ordered a Zero. As time went on (and beers went down), I began to reconsider my plan. Five hundred pesos of free customer drinks is a great bargain, but it requires walking to Whiskey Girl to use it. And it was happy hour until 9 p.m. at WG, which meant my beers were half-price. There was no way I would be able to drink five hundred pesos worth of beer in one night. Plus, my regulars there would be expecting me to quench their thirst for lady drinks. Doing the math, I determined that staying at Green Room doing the “buy one, get one” for the remainder of my time out was the best deal. I ordered some lumpia for the girls to share, had a GRO backrub, and enjoyed watching the girls play pool.

When it came time to pay the piper, I was surprised that my tab was a little over a thousand pesos. I had the waitress double-check the amount, and she said, “Three lady drinks, ten beers, and I was charged for five.” Wow! Turns out I’m drinking better than normal! I don’t usually count my beers, but ten in one sitting is quite a feat. I wasn’t feeling any pain, but I wasn’t falling down drunk either. That’s the advantage of a low-alcohol beer.

Back home, in bed at 8:30 and woke up at 4:00. Just like the good ol’ days. It’s nice to be back!

Things are back to normal with Swan, too. She’s joining me at the SOB tonight and bringing along a girlfriend. Should be fun!

And here is one of life’s mysteries I’ve often contemplated:

And then there is this:

Oh well, bad humor is also the normal around here. I hope you’ll come back for more!

It occurs to me that even on the most mundane of days, I am living a life of comfort and ease. Sometimes, it is worthwhile to take a moment and embrace the goodness that surrounds me. I am a lucky man, indeed.

First up was the trek to Hideaway Bar for the Wednesday feeding. I made stops at Shamboli’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts along the way.

With the feeding mission accomplished, it was time to plan my next move. Initially, I considered doing the Arizona floating bar since it was practically next door. But I noted it was going to be dark soon, and for me, it is the bay views that make the floating experience worthwhile. I’ll come back when I can start earlier.

Swan joined me at Oasis when her church service was over. When we were ready to move on, I planned to introduce her to the Green Room, but alas, all the good seats were taken. So we went next door to Wet Spot instead. I had some coupons from last week’s SOB to expend and elected to use the “buy a lady drink, get a customer drink” ticket. As usual, I was buying lady drinks for my waitress Irene and my old pal Aine, who is Swan’s bestie when we visit. I got two beers for every round of lady drinks, so it was a pretty good deal for everyone.

I also had a coupon for a free blow job shooter and Irene volunteered to be the recipient.

I ordered some finger foods from the Sit-n-Bull waitress for the girls to share (I had a 15% discount coupon to use).

Everything was fine when we first got home. I sat on the couch with Swan and turned on the TV to watch some “Shameless.” And then something happened.

Not sure how this will resolve itself. I took a long walk this morning to think things over, and I’m still not clear on how to proceed. I’m definitely reminded that I despise the drama that seems to be inherent in relationships. Perhaps I’m better off alone.

UPDATE: We talked. She thought I was mad and so she was giving me “space.” I told her that doesn’t work with me and that it is better to talk it through at the time. Perhaps we have learned our lesson.

Well, when you are small-minded, everything seems large. And being alive is always a big thing. So, a post about my evening on Baloy Beach and my morning dog walk is HUGE! Alright, who am I fooling? Still, it is what it is, and that’s better than nothing, so here goes.

After some internal debate about where to do my beer time, I elected to start out at the Kokomo’s floating bar. The 2K walk to get there was pretty much the extent of my exercise for the day.

Part of the reason I chose the Kokomo floater was to try and assess whether I like it better than the new Arizona floater. For example, Arizona charges me 125 pesos for a San Miguel Zero, my preferred beer. Kokomo doesn’t serve Zero (despite my repeated requests) and charges me 120 for a San Mig Light. Arizona wins that category. As for the vibe, it is still too close to call. I thought the music was too loud yesterday at Kokomo, and the playlist wasn’t really to my liking. At the Grand Opening of Arizona, I was allowed to play the music from my Spotify app and was rewarded with a couple of free beers as a thank-you gesture. Yeah, I’m leaning toward Arizona, and after the feeding tonight at Hideaway, I’ll pop in to confirm that judgment.

Oh, and I had a special guest join me during my time aboard.

When my stomach said, “Feed me,” we headed ashore and grabbed some seats at Treasure Island.

Early to home, early to bed, early to rise.

Doctor’s orders that I take it easy through tomorrow, so I bailed on the Wednesday Walkers group hike. But I wanted to get some morning exercise, so I did an elongated dog walk.

Back home and nothing much to do to fill the hours I normally hike. I watched a couple more episodes of “Shameless” and baked a cake.

I’m not sure why, but Swan wanted me to try a new look.

I always do a quick search in an attempt to avoid duplicating post titles. A week after my move here in May 2018, I wrote a post called Living large. And today, I am Livin’ large. That’s different enough for my purposes. I also came across the post about my first-ever Hash run. That brought back some fun memories, even though the woman I was with that day wound up scamming me for a thousand bucks and then ghosted me. Ah, tuition in the school of hard knocks can be expensive. But I learned my lesson. Mostly.

No more bleeding from the nose, and my sinuses feel almost completely clear. There’s a good chance I’ll be back to post again tomorrow. Although I do have to cross the highway tonight. Life goes on.

Looking back, I’ve been relatively lucky in life when it comes to health issues. In 68 years, I’ve only once been previously confined to a hospital. That was a nightmarish three days in Korea trying to cure some virus I picked up as a tourist in the Philippines. I shared a room with three other loud folks in Korea; at least this time, I had a room to myself. It was still a miserable experience, though.

The ordeal began with a no food or drinks after midnight mandate. And then I got to witness up close and personal the quirky methods employed at what is reputed to be one of the area’s better hospitals. My doctor told me to go to the emergency room at 0830 to secure admittance. Once there, I was taken to a curtained room in the ER and set up with an intravenous tube so a variety of drugs could be fed into my body.

And then I sat in that curtained room for an hour or so before someone put me in a wheelchair and transported me to the third floor, wear my hospital room awaited.

Once I was settled into the room, a nurse came by to advise the surgery was scheduled for 12:30. Why in the hell was I directed to check in three hours in advance of the operation? I was hungry and cranky but powerless to do anything but submit to the Filipino way.

Around noon, the anesthesiologist came by the room to introduce himself and ask a few questions to ensure he administered the correct amount of knockout juice. I told him I had no allergies but that I was concerned about the COPD. He assured me he would closely monitor my blood oxygen levels throughout the procedure. He laughed and said when he found out his patient was an American, he assumed I’d be morbidly obese. It is a compliment that he did not consider me to be that fat.

At the appointed hour, I was transported by wheelchair to the operating room and then put on a bed for the procedure to be performed. I remember the inhalation mask being put over my mouth, being told to breathe deep, and then nothing else until I awoke two hours later in the recovery room. Of course, the waking up part was the critical thing.

I don’t remember this, but I was told that when I first started waking from the drug-induced slumber, I went a little crazy and started screaming to let me out of her. I heard when I climbed out of bed, I fell against the wall, and three or four attendants had to drag me back to the bed. I guess I went back to sleep after that.

So, it’s been 24 hours since the surgery, and my nostrils are still oozing blood. The ENT says this is normal, and I have an appointment with her on Tuesday to remove those plugs she inserted where the polyps used to live.

I have felt like shit since the surgery. The nostrils don’t hurt, but wiping the blood off my lip every few minutes is a pain. I couldn’t sleep last night, which only added to the misery. My head hurts, I’m lethargic (more than usual), and my brain feels fuzzy (also more than usual). Still, after a year of clogged sinuses, the road to recovery will lead me to some better places. Here’s hoping!

And thanks to you, my readers, for your words of support and encouragement.

…before this one was a good one. Here’s hoping the trend continues!

Yesterday featured a nice hike to start the day (pictures to follow) and finished with an SOB. Swan joined me for that event, and we had a good time.

Today is the day I go to the hospital. I’m not in a hurry, but I am fasting. Yeah, I can’t eat or drink until after the surgery. It will be good to get this over with—the operation, I mean. I joke, but I am feeling confident all will go well. Just want to get back to normal as soon as possible.

I decided not to write an obituary as a scheduled post. Blame it on laziness. I did find this old post, The end of the road, written on the eve of my first retirement back in 2010, that hits the highlights of my life up to then.

I plan to bring my laptop to the hospital with me so I can post some updates on my status from there. If you don’t hear from me tomorrow, it’s been nice knowing you!

Here are the photos from yesterday’s hike:

Looking forward to breathing easier on my next hike!

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, we underwent a scheduled brownout yesterday, which meant no electricity from 8 until 5. I filled a couple of those hours with an 8K hike.

My hike ended at Sit-n-Bull, and I had an early air-conditioned lunch.

I went home and took care of some business (blogging, etc.), but by one o’clock, I faced a dilemma. Without electricity, my only means of escape was my laptop. And it was there that I came upon a post on Facebook announcing the soft opening of the Arizona floating bar at noon. I pride myself on waiting for beer o’clock (around 4 p.m.) to arrive before I begin imbibing. But faced with the prospect of sitting in the hot and uncomfortable house for three hours with nothing to do (the laptop battery was almost out of juice), I was powerless to resist the urge to escape to the breezy waters of Subic Bay.

The Arizona Resort is at the far end of Barretto (Hideaway Bar is next door) but that’s no further away than the Kokomo’s floating bar on Baloy. The power outage was also impacting Baloy, so that wasn’t an option anyway.

So, I arrived on the beach at 1:30, but it seemed like my transport options to the floater were limited.

I was the first customer of the day when I boarded and was besieged with offers for a massage, but I declined them all. I ordered up my first Zero of the day and soaked up the views and ambiance that come with rocking on the water. And this floater did have a more pronounced movement than the Kokomo’s does. Maybe the water is deeper here.

I define big spenders as guys who table several girls and purchase multiple double lady drinks (bottles at 300 pesos each) for the girls. I’m sure the girls appreciate it, and if the guys are having fun that way, rock on! I, on the other hand, was buying single lady drinks for my waitress, but she did get several during my first couple of hours on board. And then something weird happened; at least, it was something I hadn’t previously experienced. I guess I wasn’t quick enough to refill her glass (I usually buy a lady drink when I order another beer), so she picked up her empty, wiped off the bar, and walked away without a word, not even a nice to meet you or a thank you. I smiled to myself later as I watched her flit around the big spender’s tables, scoring a drink for herself when they bought another round. It’s impressive how good she is at her job. But of course, I’ll never buy her another drink, not that she cares.

I had asked my caregiver to message Dr. Jo to tell her of my upcoming surgery and to ask if she had any advice. Dr. Jo responded:

Here are our words of advice: 1. Stay away from the bars for now; there’s a virus going around, safer not to catch it. 2. Limit alcohol intake 3. Eat healthy 4. Maybe don’t hike or do anything strenuous 5. Pray, meditate, and think positive Good luck! You’ll feel better after the procedure….looking forward to it

So, in other words, I’m going to die. I ordered up another beer and watched the sun go down.

Swan had been busy taking care of business at her sister’s school in Subic, but she messaged me around 4:30 and I invited her to join me on the floater.

But the fun wasn’t over yet. I figured putting some grub in my belly was an appropriate next step, and with the sun down and darkness surrounding us, it was a good time to abandon ship. John’s place was nearby by, so off we went.

I was pleasantly surprised when Swan suggested Wet Spot for the nightcap venue. It turns out that during our previous visit, Aine had told Swan she wasn’t feeling well, and Swan wanted to deliver some medicine to her. A glass of wine for Swan, two lady drinks, and a couple of beers later, we called it a night.

I was in bed before nine again but woke up at midnight. “Here we go again” I thought, but thankfully, I was able to fall asleep a short time later and finished with seven hours on the night.

A nice group hike in Subic town this morning, and the SOB is on tap for later this evening. Might as well live as if there is no tomorrow, right? I’ll find out soon enough!

The Wednesday Walkers took a bus out to Castillejos and enjoyed a sweet 7K hike in an area I hadn’t seen before for the most part.

A 15K journey that took thirty minutes in relative comfort (compared to a Jeepney).

Back home, Swan showed me a picture of a visitor we had downstairs.

I did the Hideaway feeding featuring pizza and a roast chicken. I passed along the news that the Sunday feeding likely wouldn’t happen this week.

I went to Annex Bar for my next beer and Swan joined me there after her church service. Annex couldn’t provide the requested glass of red wine for Swan, so we took our business to Oasis. When it was time for the nightcap, Swan was down with going to Wet Spot, and she seemed to have a good time with her friend Aine. I brought home some Sit-n-Bull pecan pies for dessert.

I was in bed before nine, and lo and behold, I had the best night’s sleep I can recall.

And one of my better days getting in the steps as well.

We are having an all day brownout today. That means a hot house, a cold shower, and a low battery on my laptop. Best I get this posted while I can!

Today is that day of infamy that happened in 1941. Coincidentally, the Arizona floating bar is having its soft opening today. I’m going to take advantage of the opportunity to escape this hothouse and start drinking earlier than usual today.

I also figured out how to do a scheduled post, so I’ll need to get busy on my just-in-case obituary. More to come tomorrow!

I was up early yesterday morning to travel to San Marcelino for a doctor’s appointment with the ENT who will perform the nasal polypectomy. She reviewed the clearance documents from the cardiologist and pulmonary physician and said we were good to go forward with the surgery. She suggested I check into Baypointe Hospital on Friday; she would operate on Saturday, and if all goes well, I could be released on Monday. I responded there was no way I was staying confined to the hospital for that long and reminded her that when we first discussed the procedure, I was going to be admitted on a Sunday and released on Monday. She backed off and said the minimum period for post-op observation was twenty-four hours, and unless I was bleeding or had other difficulties, I could be released the following day. I’ve subsequently read up on the procedure (see link above), and at least in the USA, it is an outpatient operation with no hospitalization required.

So, I will be checking into Baypointe on Saturday morning and having the surgery performed that day. I expect to be set free on Sunday. I’ve been quoted a price of 150,000 pesos ($3000), which covers all expenses associated with the surgery. I’ve been suffering from blocked sinuses for a year now and have had four different doctors say that the only fix was the polypectomy. I’ve resisted getting this done, not because I’m afraid of the operation, but instead, I fear being put under general anesthesia and never waking up again because of my COPD. The surgeon is aware of my lung condition and assures me the anesthesiologist will closely monitor my oxygen levels during the procedure. So, I’m trusting my life that that will be the case. I guess in the worst-case scenario, dying blissfully ignorant in your sleep is not a bad way to go when your time on earth is over. I hope mine isn’t, but there’s only one way to find out.

After the doctor’s visit, we drove back to SBMA and did the weekly grocery shopping. I confess that I passed on some items, telling myself I’d wait and see if I still need them next week. Yeah, I know that’s stupid negative thinking, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.

When beer o’clock rolled around, I headed into town. I decided to skip my regular Tuesday floating bar visit and spend the evening in Barretto instead.

Sloppy Joe’s is the first bar I pass on my journey to Barretto, and my pal Chris and his gal Shie waved for me to join them.

I didn’t really have a plan for the evening, but I could see Cheap Charlies in the distance and figured I’d visit there next. But once I was out front, I saw the bar was full of RSL members (the Australian equivalent to the VFW), so I decided to continue up the highway. I hadn’t been to Blue Butterfly for a while, so I rectified that neglect.

I had a batch of brownies with me, and the three girls serving the outside area at BB were clamoring for a taste. I told them that’s what they were for and bought a drink for each to wash them down. Soon enough, the inside gals came out for a brownie, too (no drinks for them, though), and everyone seemed to enjoy them. I cracked my usual lame joke about brownies for brown knees, and they politely laughed. It was an enjoyable visit, and they reminded me that the Hash On-Home would be there this Monday. Hmm, I’d forgotten about that. I don’t expect I’ll be up for a Hash hike, but hopefully, I’ll be sufficiently recovered to come to the Hash Circle. We shall see.

I popped into It Doesn’t Matter next. It was dead, so I had one beer and left. I tried Green Room, and it was too crowded for my tastes, so I settled into Wet Spot and ordered a beer. Neither of my regulars was working, and manager Brett was off too, so I got bored and went to Alaska for my nightcap. I had a nice time there and actually enjoyed the show one of the dancers put on. No lady drink, but I did give her a 50 peso tip. I got home well before 8 p.m. and made up a batch of smoothies for Swan, my helper, and me.

And for the second night in a row, I had difficulty sleeping. My tracker says I went to sleep at 8:23 and woke again at 9:23. Didn’t fall asleep again until 2:34, then awoke for good at 3:50. Making matters worse, my TV wouldn’t connect to Netflix, so I had to settle for mostly lame YouTube videos to fill the sleepless hours. I guess I should be looking forward to Saturday when I know I’ll be in a drug-induced deep sleep. I still want to wake up early, though!

Despite the lack of sleep, I participated in the Wednesday Walkers group hike this morning, and I’ll be heading out to feed the gals at Hideaway a bit later. Life goes on. Hopefully.