I might have mentioned that one of the repercussions associated with my upcoming move involves the folks currently living in my basement room. The mother, who is employed as a caretaker for the property owners, will be moving into the basement of the house next door. I’ve been supplementing her meager wages with a 1000 peso ($20) a week bonus, so she will be losing out on that after I’m gone. The real impact is on her daughter, Inday, who won’t be permitted by the landlord to join her mother when she moves. Inday is in her late 20s and unemployed. Her boyfriend, who has also been staying in my basement, is minimally employed in the construction trades. Inday is also a Hasher (Cum In My Basement) and we are Facebook friends. I’ve seen her increasingly desperate posts asking for leads on affordable housing in the area. Of course, with very little income there ain’t much they can afford. Although it is not my responsibility, I do feel bad about her situation.

I also probably mentioned that my part-time helper, Gina, left my employ a couple of months ago. And when I was checking out my new digs yesterday, including what is actually a pretty nice basement maid’s room, a thought occurred to me: I could offer Inday the part-time job, pay her the P1000 a week I was giving her mother, and let her (and the boyfriend) reside in my basement. I mentioned that possibility to Inday and she seemed grateful (her English isn’t that great). I saw her mom later and she thanked me profusely. So, it looks like I am going to have another helping hand around here.

Otherwise, not much else is going on. The rain has put a, um, damper on my walking activity, or at least provided a handy excuse for my laziness. One of those. I took advantage of a break in the storm yesterday and hustled down to Cheap Charlies.

Anyway, it was Saturday night so I played the role of big spender–lots of lady drinks and food for the girls. That’s kind of a once-a-week undertaking for me; I’m not rich, after all. Why all that generosity last night set me back a whopping $60! Yeah, I must be crazy, I know.

This morning on the dog walk I took the boys to see their new place. They didn’t pee on anything, so I’ll take that as a good sign. I’m going to need to rearrange some furniture to get everything to fit. It should be cozy (that’s the nice way to say “cramped”, right?). It’s gonna be a bit of an adjustment, but it will be fine once I’m settled in.

I took myself out for a French lunch today at The Pub.

And that’s today’s installment from the story of my life. Thanks for dropping by, and remember, don’t let those masks slip! Right Dr. Fraudci?

The rent-paying saga has now come to an end. But there was one last gut-wrenching episode to that story. In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that Western Union had extracted nearly $3000. from my bank account as I had authorized for my move-in expenses at the new apartment. They also attempted a duplicate withdrawal which my bank rejected for non-sufficient funds and charged me a $29. fee for my failure to let WU rape me. Regardless, the rent money was out of my account and presumably on its way to my landlady’s bank account.

Not so fast! Late in the afternoon I received an email from Western Union advising:

We’re sorry to let you know that we canceled your recent transfer. We needed additional information from you to complete it but were unable to reach you at Not-A-Number(false).

Are you f’n kidding me? They unhelpfully provided a US 1-800 number to call if I had any questions. I was livid and drafted a nasty email response, then noticed that the fine print advised that responses to this email would not be seen and suggested contacting a customer service representative via their webpage. I went to the webpage and no email addresses were provided. You could call, mail a letter (people still do that?) or chat with someone online. So, I tried chat. After waiting a few minutes, I got connected with someone named Adhar. He took my basic information, asked me what the problem was, and after I explained he told me to hold while he looked into the issue. When he returned he told me I would have to call a 1-800 number. I explained that I was in the Philippines and couldn’t call a toll-free number in the USA. He came back and gave me a number that he claimed would work from here. It didn’t. That was thirty minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

Now what? I asked a local techy friend if there was a way to contact a toll-free number from my mobile phone. He said, “just add three zeros before the one”. Seriously? I tried it and it worked! So now I’m “talking” to some AI voice that assures me it will understand my responses. It took my name, my transaction number, and my issue–then told me to hold while I was transferred to an appropriate customer representative. Moments later I’m connected to a young-sounding woman speaking in accented but understandable English. She asked what my problem was and I let her have it–with both barrels. Yeah, a week’s worth of frustration came spewing out. In essence, I said, “you tell me the transfer was canceled because you need more information. And yet, you had enough info to withdraw the funds from my bank and are now refusing to send that money on to its final destination. Then you have the audacity to say I provided a false phone number. I’m talking to you from that non-existent number right now!” I was using my “BIG VOICE” which I’ve been told is both loud and intimating. I actually felt bad about it afterward and semi-apologized. To her credit, the CSR simply said she was sorry for the misunderstanding and proceeded to try and rectify the issues.

First, she said she needed to call me at the number I provided. “You want me to hang up?” I asked incredulously. “No,” she said, “stay on the line. I’ll be right back.” I’m not sure what she did, maybe dialed and go a busy signal. Anyway, when she returned she said that there are many fraudulent transfers to the Philippines and therefore it was necessary that I provide additional information about my transaction. Fine, fire away.

What is the money being sent to be used for? Paying two months rent and two months security deposit.

Who is the recipient? Karen van Scheck, the owner of the property.

Have you ever met her in person? No, I’m dealing with her agent who is a personal friend of mine.

How do you know this person owns the property? Um, because I know other tenants in the same building who have not encountered any issues with her or their wire transfer services. *Ahem*

Hold on, sir. Okay, I’ve submitted your responses and your wire transfer is now approved. When will the money arrive? It is there now, sir.

Thanks. Have a good day. *click*

Anyway, I get what they are trying to do–prevent me from ripped off. I still contend if my transaction was flagged as potentially fraudulent they should never have taken the money from my account. The landlady emailed me this morning saying the money was indeed in her bank account. And oh yeah, my bank responded to my message about the insufficient funds notice and said the $29 fee was being waived. Another victory!

This morning I met with Heidi, the landlady’s rep, and we did an inventory of the house contents. Then she gave me the keys:

I’ll figure it out. I’m going to need to get duplicates made to the essential doors–for the helpers and to hide outside for the inevitable drunken night when I lose mine. Ain’t life grand?

I’m going to start a slow transition to my new digs. Need to get the internet transferred before I move for one thing. I’m tentatively looking at Thursday next week for using the Hash truck to move my larger items. I don’t like moving, but doing it piecemeal might make it a little less burdensome.

In other news, Facebook reminded me of a painful memory from three years ago:

Speaking of hiking, there was a Friday get-together yesterday. Given the recent heavy rains, we stayed down low and mostly on paved ground. One of the gals with us said the hike was “long and hard, just the way I like it!” You are welcome. Here are a few pictures:

As I mentioned, we didn’t get much rain during the hike. But right as we finished lunch the sky opened up and rain fell in torrents. I chose to walk home anyway and was soaked to the bone. Damn, I miss those sunny hot days! Kidding, I’ll take the rain for now. Ask me again next month!

I am going to miss this view. Things change, life goes on.

A quick epilogue to yesterday’s rent-paying fiasco. I received a notice from my bank that a transaction had been rejected due to insufficient funds in my account. Well, that was my stopgap measure to keep Western Union from double-dipping. Seems to have worked although I was not happy about being gigged for the $29 bounced check fee. Oh well, lesson learned.

I spent yesterday evening at It Doesn’t Matter. It appears I enjoyed myself:

I bought from the Yakult vendor and the peanut vendor, but not the ladies’ sportswear vendor. She had an interesting setup though:

My doctor’s appointment went about as I expected. She took some history, reviewed my prescriptions, and referred me to Bay Pointe hospital for some lab work. When I get those results she will review them with me and we’ll make a plan from there.

So, that’s that. Keeping this post short and sweet to make up for the torture I put y’all through yesterday.

Oh, has anyone else noticed the whole COVID narrative falling apart like an old building?

Regular readers are well aware of my fondness for going out every night–eating, drinking, and carousing with the ladies like a rich man. Well, those things come with a price and now I find myself in the unenviable position of having difficulty fulfilling my obligation to pay the rent on my new place. It was due on the first and remains unpaid as of now.

Here’s what happened. You may recall that last Sunday I initiated a wire transfer of the first and last month’s rent, plus two month’s security deposit via Western Union. That’s nearly $3000. at current exchange rates. Shortly thereafter I received an email from WU advising that I had failed to supply some required information. I clicked on the link in that email and it took me back to my submission but didn’t specify what was missing. I messed around with it for a while, then inadvertently submitted a SECOND transfer request. When I attempted to cancel the second transfer, I got a message advising it was “too late” to do so. What the hell? So, I went to my bank account and transferred money from checking to savings, leaving only enough for one wire transfer in the amount I owed my new landlady. Then I took a wait and see what happens approach.

Well, as of this morning, nothing happened. I had told my landlady to be on the lookout for funds coming via Western Union. She sent me a message last night saying nothing had arrived and mentioned the previous tenant had paid via Xoom without issues. By the way, my landlady is a Filipina living in the Netherlands, but the rent money goes into her Philippines bank account. That shouldn’t be a problem, just makes the process a little more complicated. Anyway, I told her if the funds had not been transferred from my account by this morning, I’d initiate a new action using the Xoom service. It wasn’t, so I did.

Nothing comes easy for an old-timer like me it seems, especially when it involves any kind of technical skills; like reading, writing, and following instructions. Turns out, Xoom is an affiliate of PayPal, so I had to use PayPal to log into Xoom. I didn’t recall having a PayPal account until I tried to create one and was told that my email address was already associated with PayPal. That started me on the process of getting a new password since I had no idea what the old one was. I got the emailed security code, plugged it in, and hooray, was able to change my password! After that, it was no problem getting into Xoom and completing the form required to initiate a wire transfer.

Now, Xoom does things a bit differently than WU. They don’t charge a fee for the transfer itself, they just gouge you on the exchange rate (they are upfront about that). So, with WU the dollar to peso rate was 47.63 or so. With Xoom, it was 45.10. With the amount I was sending that made a significant difference in cost, but what are you going to do? I submitted the transfer, got a notice that it was approved, and the landlady would have her money in a matter of hours. What a relief!

And then I got an email from Xoom. My transfer had been cancelled due to “security concerns”. They gave me a number to call, which doesn’t do me much good from the Philippines (no, I don’t know how to do international calls from my mobile phone either). I sent an email explaining I was trying to pay the rent and asking what steps I could take to resolve their security concerns? Their response was they’d get back to me maybe tomorrow.

Now what? Well, a friend here had mentioned he uses World Remit, so I logged onto their site and registered an account. But when I tried to set up a transfer from my U.S. bank, the Philippines did not appear on the list of countries I could send money to. WTF? I assume the problem may have something to do with my having a Philippines address, but I don’t know why that should matter. I was too frustrated by this point to be bothered with trying to resolve the issue.

A company called Wise (formerly TransferWise) was my last option. I was pretty impressed with the ease with which the submission requirements could be accomplished (or maybe I was just getting good at it by now). In next to no time at all, I was ready to make the transfer. Well, there was one thing that made me cringe. They use a third party to extract the funds from my bank account “for my protection and security.” This third-party app needed my bank account log-in and password. I did a Google search of the third party and Wise and found nothing derogatory. So, I gritted my teeth and supplied the information. I’m going to go to my bank account and change the password, so I should be okay. And just like that, I had the message that the wire transfer was in process. Even got a link to a way to track the progress online. Then a little later an email telling me the transfer was taking longer than normal, but the money should be in the landlady’s account by tomorrow. Alright then, mission accomplished!

I’ve been checking my bank account throughout the day watching to see if and when the money is withdrawn. And finally, just before I sat down to write this post, the three thousand bucks had been removed from my checking account. By WESTERN UNION! Aw, shit. I thought after four days of no contact they were out of the picture. So, now what? I went back to Wise and canceled that transfer. I guess it is safe to assume the money is finally on the way to the landlady. I’m anxiously awaiting her confirmation of receipt.

Next month’s rent ought to go easier at least. I’m an old hand at this now. I do believe I’ll be using Wise next time though, they were the easiest of the lot and I like their tracking feature. Although maybe not since I’d have to change my bank account password every month. It’s getting hard for me to remember my name these days.

In other news, I made it through last night’s tropical storm unscathed. It didn’t really kick in until after my bedtime, but I was awakened a little after midnight by the sound of the wind’s fury and the rain pounding down on the roof. I was still awake when the power went out. I figured it’s o’dark-thirty and a storm is raging. What are the odds this is going to get fixed anytime soon? Well, fifteen minutes later the fan came back on and I returned to sleep in the relative comfort of its breeze.

My neighbor and fellow Hasher, Simon (Leech My Nuggets), was not as fortunate. When I walked past his house this morning, I saw this:

Kevin Kim posted a funny video of this brothers in uniform–The Grammar Police. I know I could be arrested at any moment for the crappy way I write the crap I post here. The history of the Grammar Cops goes way back to the Egyptian times as this rare drawing demonstrates:

Alright, I promised some pics from the Wednesday Walkers hike yesterday. We trekked up Kalaklan ridge again, but took an unfamiliar route. There is no easy way up, but comparatively speaking, this one wasn’t too bad. We did about 7.5K all told. It didn’t start raining until we were down from the mountain at least. Lucky us!

The last of the hike was in the rain, but by then I was so hot and sweaty it was a relief. Still, it was a good day in the Philippines.

Yesterday afternoon I’m minding my own business, just walking up the highway to get a haircut from my bakla (transgender) barber. The next thing I know the skies have opened up and water is pouring down on me from above. Luckily, I was right across the street from Cheap Charlies when the deluge began, so I made a dash for the relative safety of the bar.

Of course, there are other dangers every bit as severe as the rain. I count thirsty bargirls as one of them. With few customers in the bar, I promptly became the target of their attentions in pursuit of the coveted lady drink commission. Alas, my resistance proved futile, and drink they did.

Eventually, the rain stopped and I was able to make my escape with a lightened wallet. Back on the street and hungry now, I made my way over to Sit-n-Bull for some dinner. One of the daily specials was Salisbury steak, a dish I hadn’t tried for quite some time. I ordered it up and enjoyed a cold brew while the cook did his work.

With my hunger satiated but still thirsty, I headed over to Palm Tree for beer and beach views. I wasn’t disappointed.

Finished the night with a couple more at Queen Victoria and then on to the house ahead of my 9:00 p.m. bedtime.

Speaking of the rain, it is raining as I write this. And if the forecasts are to be believed, lots more rain is in my immediate future.

And it looks like tomorrow is really going to blow too.

Oh well, it could always be worse. Oh, shit! It is. Saw this post on Facebook from the Barangay Captain:

We are reminding everyone that there are a lot of jellyfish / guinea fowl in our seaside, all are prohibited from bathing in our sea in Barretto.

What the fuck is a “guinea fowl” anyway? Oh, I guess it’s like a chicken. Not sure why that would preclude you from “bathing in our sea”, but whatever. These would likely keep me out of the water though:

Apparently all those folks I saw on the beach and in the water yesterday didn’t get the message. Or maybe it’s just a bunch of overblown nonsense. There are other reasons I’d avoid the waters of Subic Bay, but that’s just because I’ve been upriver and seen the shit washing downstream. No thanks!

I’ve got a doctor’s appointment in the morning. Actually, I’ve been feeling better lately. Sleeping better, too. My helper (who is a certified caregiver) procured some hydrochloride tablets that seem to have cured whatever was itching me. Still, I need to get the annual physical I haven’t had for a couple of years now. We’ll see what the doctor has to say about my future.

That’s the report from here. I’ll tell you about the Wednesday Walkers hike tomorrow. Now I have to contend with the rain as I make my weekly journey out to Dive In. Heh, who knows? Maybe I’ll meet a rainy day love.

Rainy day people always seem to know when you’re feeling blue
High stepping strutters who land in the gutters sometimes need one too
Take it or leave it, or try to believe it
If you’ve been down too long Rainy day lovers don’t hide love inside they just pass it on

More of the same around here, but at least I got a little creative with the headline. Or stupid. Either way, it’s a fair description of my night.

I did not make it out to Baloy Beach yesterday. I was headed in that direction, then decided to detour to see if I could find “mama” and give her some food money. She wasn’t in the usual places though, and since I was already there I said “fuck it” and crossed the street to Mango’s. I don’t visit there as frequently as I used to, but the waitress still treated me like a regular. I took my usual beachside seat and settled in to drink some beers. Quite a few folks were out enjoying the sea and sand, almost all of them Filipino. The new normal I suppose. When hungry time came, I ordered up my favorite–grilled pork chops. Then the tables got full, the service got slow, and I got up and left.

As I was making my way up the highway I saw “mama” and gave her her allowance. She responded with her usual “I love you, papa” and all was right and normal in my world.

I still wasn’t quite ready to go home, so I popped into Outback. Instead of the indoor pub, I sat out at the poolside bar which also features a nice bay view. Enjoyed a couple of more brews and watched the sun go down.

I’m still dealing with those itching sensations. I’m working hard at learning to resist the urge to scratch which only seems to exacerbate the itch. Easier said than done, especially when I’m lying in bed. The worst is my hands, and my automatic response is to rub vigorously between the fingers. That feels good while I’m doing it, but leaves the hand sore and throbbing afterward. So, I managed to ignore the itch in my hand and the bottom of my foot by sending my mind to its happy place and eventually falling asleep. And then I dreamed about giving my hand a good and satisfying rubbing (hmm, that sounds unintentionally lewd), then I wake up, and I’ll be damned if I hadn’t been rubbing those hands for real in my sleep. Couldn’t go back to sleep with a throbbing hand, so I got up and went downstairs for some of this:

So, that was my night. Joy arrived at the appointed time to accompany me on my morning walk. I’ll admit I was a little surprised and somewhat impressed with her initiative. I do enjoy some company on the trail and have fantasized about having a female companion who sincerely desires to share in my “hobby.” I decided to forego a mountain climb for her virgin hike but did undertake a good long two-hour trek. I was feeling it towards the end and she admitted her feet were tired as well.

I know Joy must have been exhausted because when we reached the highway I asked if she wanted to visit the Jollibee across the street. She said, “no, I want to go back home.” Wow. When a Filipina declines some Jollibee, you know she must be out of it. I gave her Jeepney fare and a thousand pesos for her efforts. I did appreciate her joining me.

Once Joy arrived back at her place she sent me this photo:

It will be interesting to see if she volunteers to join me in the future.

I got an email from my soon-to-be new landlord reminding me that I needed to pay two months’ deposit and the first and last month’s rent before I could move in on the first. That’s 140,000 pesos or $2963.00 at the current exchange rate. So, I opened up my Western Union app to see how to go about wiring money into the specified bank account. It turned out to be a very simple process. Received the confirmation and thought I was good to go. Then came home from the hike and had an email saying I hadn’t completed the transaction. What the hell? So, I opened up the link to see what I’d missed and wala (nothing). I messed around a while and wound up sending the money a second time. Oops. Went back to cancel that transaction and got a message saying that it couldn’t be reversed. Are you shitting me? Well, fuck that. I went to my bank account and transferred the money out of checking and into savings. There’s enough in checking for the first transaction, but not the second. We’ll see what happens next.

And that’s how my day has gone so far. Going to shower up and try and make it out to Baloy this afternoon. Or not. It Doesn’t Matter.

I drug my lazy ass out of the house yesterday afternoon with every intention of going directly to Cheap Charlies. Once I hit the highway though I decided to keep on going until I reached Dive In. Not sure why I’m starting to like that place so much, but it’s got a bit of a Cheers vibe going. Jessa, the bartender/ex-girlfriend, always calls me by her nickname for me, “Gwapo” (handsome). Gerlie, a woman I know from darts, was there with her man, and they bought me a beer before I’d even sat down. Once again, Jessa was being tended to by another patron, but a waitress named Lovely filled the void on the barstool next to me, so of course, I bought her a couple of lady drinks. Good times!

I stayed a little longer at Dive In than I had intended, but I had promised Eunice, one of my regulars at Cheap Charlies, that I’d be coming for a visit. Once I arrived and took my seat, I looked around and discovered she was with a customer buying her DOUBLE lady drinks (twice the price, twice the commission), something I never do. That’s the way it works though, first comes, first served. Fools that get jealous or upset about a bargirl doing her job should just stay home. Soon enough, I had a gal on either side of me wanting to take advantage of my generosity keep me company. They weren’t disappointed in that regard, I bought them lady drinks and some food.

I departed Cheap Charlies and made my way up the highway to Queen Victoria, the last bar I pass on my way home. It had been a while since my previous visit. Honestly, I’m not sure how they stay in business. Friday night, almost 8:00, and I’m the only customer. Not good.

This morning I was motivated to get back with the program. I hadn’t walked for two straight days and I told myself no more excuses. It wasn’t like I was planning to walk around the world, but I figured I could ease back into my routine with a walk around the barrio. I accomplished that objective and I have the pictures to prove it.

These are the streets I walked on my morning adventure:

So, about an hour and a half of walking on mostly flat paved roads. It’s a start. Joy is going to join me for tomorrow’s hike (it was her idea) but I don’t think I’ll take her up a mountain just yet. We’ll see how it goes and how she does.

Not sure what’s on tap for this evening. I might do Baloy Beach, but without the floating bar it is not as enjoyable. I’ll just take it one step at a time.

As impossible as it may seem, I have done practically nothing over these past 24 hours. Even by my low standards, that’s quite the accomplishment. Here’s the rundown:

I attended a birthday party yesterday afternoon. It was a Filipina’s party and that meant lots of food and drinks and laughing brown-skinned beauties. I hung out with the guys and enjoyed some nice chats and copious amounts of beer. Drunk when I got back home and in bed before 9:00 p.m. As usual.

Didn’t feel like doing the Friday hike today, so I didn’t. I’m going to cut myself some slack and listen to my body more. I feel tired a lot so maybe I should rest more. Of course, my good intentions for doing something productive went by the wayside as well. I had thought about checking out a medical clinic here in Barretto this morning, but I took a nap instead.

When I got up I watched a couple more installments of Lonesome Dove. Damn, it’s a well-done show. Almost as good as the book. Thinking about that reminded me of when I used to be a rather voracious reader. These days I barely have the attention span to get through an interesting article I find on the internet. Still, two 90 minute episodes of a show I’ve seen before is something of an accomplishment I suppose.

I got a message from one of the gals at Cheap Charlies asking where I’ve been. Guess that means it is time to pay them a visit again. That should take care of my Friday night at least.

I hope to be back to normal soon!

Another typical day in the life. Beers at Dive In and a couple of drinks with Jessa. Then I headed out to Palm Tree, assuming it would be a good place to watch the sun and moon do their dance. I was wrong about that. I’m not sure where the moon was at the appointed hour, perhaps behind the mountain. Ah, well. Crossed the highway, grabbed my wings, went home and ate, then called it a night.

Yesterday’s hike was a pleasant 6K. Well, it would have been more pleasant if I felt better, but I was still glad to be out and about. Here a few pics to give you the flavor of our morning.

That’s all I’ve got for now. More to come tomorrow.

The Angeles City Hashers are in town this weekend doing an outstation event, featuring runs today and tomorrow. I’ll be participating in both. Today’s Hash starts at 3:00 with short (5K) and longer (10K) trails that the Hare promises are mostly flat. Well, I’m going to do the short trail because the circle starts at 5:00, and I’m not sure I can pull off 10K in two hours. The circle is scheduled to end at 6:00 and will be followed by a bar crawl. I’m still undecided about whether I’ll participate in that.

Anyway, since I’ve got a trail to do later on I opted not to do a morning walk. With some time to kill, I fired up the TV and watched the movie Groundhog Day. I’m not sure when I saw it last, but was a little surprised that the film debuted in 1993–28 years ago. Damn, that made me feel old. Of course, I remembered the story, but I had forgotten some of the scenes. So it was fun to see them again as if for the first time. I guess that should make me feel old too. I also couldn’t help but think how much my life parallels the plot of the film. Pretty much every day is some combination of walking and drinking, varying only in minor details like where I am and who is with me. Of course, Bill Murray’s character grew and developed through repetition in a way that is unlikely to occur in my life, but I don’t mind being what and who I am until I am no more. And there are enough wrinkles in the fabric of my mundane existence to keep things relatively interesting.

Here’s an example of what I mean. I have a friend named Marick (and yes, I wish she was more than that, but that’s another story), she’s got a small business where she makes and sells different kinds of food for her clientele, although I’ve never previously bought anything from her. I noticed she posted on her Facebook page yesterday morning that she was making kimbap.

So, yesterday afternoon as I was preparing to head out for my daily bar excursion I get a message from Marick. Seems she had three containers of kimbap unsold and she asked if I was interested in making a purchase. Well, I’m always willing to help out a friend, so I told her I would swing by her shop on my way to the bars.

When I arrived she still had all three containers available, so I bought them for 150 pesos each. We chatted a bit and then I headed out with my bounty. I hadn’t really planned to visit Dive In but since I found myself on that side of town it was convenient to drop by to see Jessa and her crew. On my previous visits there hadn’t been many customers, but last night the place was packed. Jessa had a guy plying her with drinks, so at least I didn’t have to pay for the privilege. I had a couple of beers and shared my recently purchased kimbap with the staff. I had a couple of pieces and found it rather bland, but as I said, I’m not an expert on what it should taste like. The girls seemed to enjoy it okay, although when I left probably half of it was still unconsumed.

I wandered up the highway and decided to have a “real” meal at Mango’s. Got my regular beachside seat and set to work on meeting my beer consumption goals.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Got my porkchops to go and headed on home. Another Groundhog Day with a twist of kimbap and a lack of Jessa, just to change things up a bit.

Earlier in the day, I participated in the Friday group hike. The original intent was to do the Black Rock ridge, a climb I was dreading given my recent physical issues. I was resolved to at least make the attempt and retreat if necessary, but to my relief the people up front decided on a different course. We wound up with a mostly pleasant 8K hike. Here are some photos:

Even these walks have a Groundhog Day vibe, don’t they?

An interesting Wednesday Walkers group hike yesterday. I’ll get to that in a minute and share some photos from the day. But first, let’s talk about the beer!

Another good night of drinking, this time at Dive In with Jessa and the girls. I do enjoy Jessa’s company, but then again, I only see her once a week. Maybe that’s the secret! Had some beers, bought some lady drinks, played some pool, and fed the girls some pizza. Good times! When it came time for me to move on towards the house, I popped into The Pub for my weekly fix of chicken wings.

After eating my fill, I headed upstairs and slept the peaceful sleep of the inebriated.

Speaking of being a drunk bastard, I came across this article today, which claims that ANY amount of alcohol causes damage to the brain. Well, in all seriousness, I have seen some deterioration in my cognitive abilities lately. These mostly manifest in small but irritating ways–frequent typos and misspellings, forgetfulness, and an occasional lack of clarity in my thought processes–sort of a fuzzy feeling in my head. Now, I’m 65 years old and some of this is likely just the natural decline that comes with aging. Maybe if I were still a working man I’d worry about it more. I’m retired and enjoying my life. And some of that enjoyment comes from downing a frosty cold bottle of beer or three. So, if I’m destined to become Biden-like and beer hastens my journey to dementia, so be it.

And here’s the bottom line:

Alright, now where was I? Oh yeah, the Wednesday hike. Our intention was to hike up to the Kalaklan ridge using a route we hadn’t taken recently. Our efforts were stymied initially by a locked gate, and later by a recently constructed fence. We eventually found an alternative way up, but then discovered we were somehow fenced in. No one was willing to retreat back down the steep trail we had just climbed, so we wandered around some looking of an opening in the fence. And then we encountered an old woman carrying a bolo knife (machete) who was not at all happy about our presence on “her land.” We explained we were just hiking through but she was having none of it. We tried to ignore her but she continued to follow us around yelling stuff in Tagalog. We had a couple of Filipinas with us and they translated that she was saying that previous hikers had damaged her fence (no doubt looking for a way out). She finally offered to escort us to “the gate.” With no other obvious option (other than damaging the fence) we reluctantly let her lead us partially down the mountain, where she unlocked the gate and pointed for us depart. I tried to give her a bag of cookies as a peace offering, but she refused and gestured for me to get off her land. And that is just what we did. Then we reclimbed the mountain on the other side of her fence and made it up to the ridge road with no further problems.

Here are some photos from the hike:

And that was my Wednesday.