One of my old smartass putdowns when arguing was that “I’ve forgotten more than you’ll ever know”. I fear that it may actually be coming true, at least the forgetting part. It goes beyond mere absent-mindedness; today I walked out for my hike and forgot to put on my hat. To make that failure even worse, I had gone upstairs earlier for the specific purpose of getting the ballcap I’d forgotten earlier. Took a pee and forgot the hat again.
But what really bothers me is the parts of my life that are just fading away. Last night laying in bed and waiting for sleep to overtake me I started thinking back to my youth on Milton Avenue in Westminster, California. Heh, I remember my address (13892) but what about the friends I grew up with? I remembered some of them, like Rod McClanahan and Darrol McCue who lived on my street. There were other buddies too that I can vaguely recall but some have fallen into a black hole. I remember I drove a friend’s sports car through a brick wall. Yeah, I was high or drunk. Or both.
The car looked like this before the accident. I remember it was a Triumph TR4 but I don’t remember the owner’s name.
There were a lot of empty spots like that in my memory and I found it disconcerting. So it was rather surprising when I got a message from my high school buddy Rod Headlee this morning:
Do you remember who the members of the Ringwraiths softball team were the year we won the championship game two to one?
Are you kidding me? That would have been 1974 and I honestly hadn’t thought of those guys since the turn of the century. [UPDATE: 2010 anyway] Coincidentally, some of the names would have been the same ones I couldn’t remember from the night before. I remembered playing softball of course and our team name but had no recollection of our championship season.
Now, Rod and I are Facebook friends. But his message this morning was the first time I’d heard from him in three years. Last time I saw Rod and his wife Pat was back on New Year’s Day in 2012 on his sailboat in North Carolina. Yep, they live on the boat most of the time and travel the world from their West Coast base. Not bad for a guy who’s a couple of years older than me. Anyway, his message today out of the blue took me aback. And after I confessed I couldn’t really remember more than a couple of the players, I asked how he was doing. He responded that he had some plumbing to do and would get back to me later. Maybe another three years?
And as if to underscore the point I’m attempting to make with this post (and which I might have forgotten by now) I did a quick search of my blog archives and found this post from 2010 featuring this photograph:
No, I didn’t remember ever posting about the Ringwraiths until now. But this has triggered some memories. Back row: #66 is Jim Meehan, #13 is Rod Headlee, #6 is Larry Raemakers. Front row: #12 Paul Martin, next to him Dutch something or other, Chuck Martin, don’t recall #24, #35 is Doug Price and #22 is my brother Keith.Oh, and that handsome #7 looks awfully familiar…
So, I don’t know whether I should feel good about remembering some more names after seeing the photo or not. The “Dutch” guy was my pot supplier and my first wife’s ex-boyfriend. It’s scary to me though that I don’t recall my old post or the fact that we were league champions.
Rod also reminded me that we attended a massive outdoor rock concert that year called California Jam.
I don’t really remember this either. But in my defense, I was very likely stoned out of my mind at the time.
Oh well, this has been an interesting trip (and fall) down memory lane. At least for me. I forgot I’m writing for an audience that probably gave up on this post after the first paragraph. If you are still here, thank you for your indulgence!
As bad as I may be, at least I’m not China’s bitch.
Or puppet as it were.
Now if I could only figure out how to lose the bad memories.
I didn’t, I took the short cut. One climb on yesterday’s Hash was enough for me and my tired lungs. I felt a little bad about it though because I had a passel of newbies following me and when I pointed out the trail leading up the mountain and encouraged them to go forward they all declined and played it safe with me. So, we had a flat but boring highway walk to the On-Home at Hunter’s Jo Inn. Here are some photos from my abbreviated hike:
And we are On-On! I wasn’t necessarily born to follow but I do recognize the benefits of being, um, behind.Across the rice paddy. I like how one gal is looking left and the other right. But there ain’t no dry way around it…Another way to look at it.Hello, my friend.Leading the group through what turned out to be our only climb of the day.Through a mango grove…Country road, take me On-Home…A message from the Hare…Youngun’s frolicking.Through the narrow streets of a village…Over a bridge……and over another.Back On-Home and Snap-On Jarhead demonstrates how to quench a thirst…This is why you don’t wear new shoes to the Hash…We initiated two new virgins into the kennel…And celebrated a birthday in the Hash traditional manner…I had a craving for some French food, so after the Hash, I enjoyed a ham and cheese croissant at Sit-n-BullAfter eating, I joined up with a group of Hashers hanging out on the rooftop at BarCelona.The Gash were out in force as well…Now, this was kind of a surprise…the woman on the right is a Hasher named Black and Dick Her. That’s her daughter on the left who was our waitress at BarCelona.
And so ended another Hash Monday. Next week, I’ll be a Hare along with Pubic Head for the annual Candy Run. We are plotting a 4-5K stroll through the streets of Barretto handing out candy (and cookies!) to the kids. Rumor has it that Santa Claus himself may be joining in on the fun!
This post was a little rough around the edges but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.
A quick report on the birthday celebration I had the pleasure to attend yesterday, then I’m off to another Hash Monday.
A pleasant and uneventful trip out to San Antonio. It’s actually a pretty small town, nice enough I suppose but I think I’d be bored there. Close to the beaches but not conveniently close. Anyway, it’s where our host has chosen to live and my oh my, he is living large. One of the biggest houses I’ve visited and quite luxurious. Just him and the wife so I guess they have the room to avoid each other should they ever feel the need.
Anyway, the party was quite nice with plenty of food, snacks, sweets, and of course, beer. Lechon, a traditional Filipino favorite, was the featured meat selection. Plenty of other tasty side dishes for any Muslims in attendance. There appeared to be fifty or so people gathered but the only ones I knew were the host and the folks I brought with me. After a couple of hours, the karaoke machine was fired up and I was compelled to do my traditional rendition of “I started a joke”. I received a polite round of applause when I finished but perhaps significantly, was not asked to do an encore performance. Suits me!
Here are some photos:
Lechon is a roasted pig.Smile for the camera! Thanks for giving us your all…I got excited when I saw this fruit salad. Alas, it was made with cool whip, not sour cream. Plus, it was still frozen.Gary honors the birthday girl and recognizes Jim who was also celebrating a birthday yesterday.Some of the guests sitting under the HUGE pavilion in Gary’s backyard.The pool was popular with the kids…Scott was behaving himself. No really, he was!The Blessed Virgin Mother kept watch over us all from her perch in the yard.Let them eat cake!Hanging out and drinking beer. Does it get any better than that?Another view of the pool.
A good afternoon of something a little different. It was fun.
I came across another Charles Bukowski quote this morning:
I’m just Biden my time.Perhaps this is an example of what Bukowski was talking about…
Anyway, I’ve got other things I can think about. Like how fucked up will the trail be this week. Stay tuned!
A morning post today necessitated by my taking a trip out to San Antonio in a bit. No, not the one in Texas, the original one right here in Zambales.
This should help you get your bearings. It’s about a 45-minute drive from Barretto.
And why am I making this journey? Because I got invited to a birthday party. For someone I’ve never even met.
I’m told that’s her upfront on the left. Turning 30. Has a boyfriend. Oh well.
Gary (Flaming Asshole), a fellow Hasher, extended the invite to the event being held at his residence. Several of us are coming out from Barretto to crash the party. I’m sure we’ll find a way to make it fun. Or get drunk trying! No worries, I’m having my driver take us so we won’t be breaking any laws. Full report tomorrow.
Last night saw me take third place at the darts tourney. A little disappointing in that my partner is one of the top players here but we both just couldn’t put it together for some reason. Well, that’s darts I suppose.
After darts, I popped into Mango’s. Was quite surprised at my reception after having been gone a week. The manager greeted me at the door and said she had been concerned about me. The bartender/waitress was practically ecstatic that I was back. Ah, nothing like a hero’s welcome to make you feel special. I ordered up my favorite dish–grilled pork chops. After eating, the cook came out to say hello too. I complimented the meal and said his chops were much better than the ones I got next door at Palm Tree. Oops, let the cat out of the bag. Oh well. Actually, I did tell the manager that the view had been the draw for me and the floating island had destroyed that. Nothing she can do about it of course.
Ah, that tasty goodness!
Woke up to another fine morning.
A nice way to start the day.Took my morning walk along Baloy beach.
Now it’s time to shower up and get ready for my journey. Let me leave you with a bit of political talk concerning our incoming President, aka China’s bitch.
Funny how that works.If Time magazine were honest. Heh, that’s like saying if your aunt had balls she’d be your uncle. Hmm, my dad used to say that but I guess given that women can have balls these day it hasn’t aged well. Never mind.
Alright, that’s enough of this nonsense. Thanks for dropping by!
I may be your destiny, but you are not my meant to be.
A Filipina’s words upon meeting me for the first time.
That was a pretty sweet rejection though. Painfully honest, but sweet. And life goes on.
A second-place finish in the darts tournament last night. The champions were far superior to me and my partner talent-wise, so I actually felt pretty good about them being the only team to beat us. Which they did twice. Like a drum.
I was feeling hungry after darts so I popped into a place called The Pub for some takeout. I’m not sure why I don’t come here more often, the food has always been quite good on my previous visits. Well, I guess it is because they don’t have outside seating as I prefer and they are not vape friendly indoors. It’s owned by a guy named John Kim, a Korean-American. The menu is varied but has a few Korean style dishes. I’d been jonesing for that crispy fried chicken I used to eat in Seoul, especially after a night out drinking.
I wasn’t disappointed. Yum!
In other news, I received my first ever Facebook fact check. Such an honor!
Missing Context The same information was checked in another post by independent fact-checkers. See Why
I mean, it is an actual Biden quote, but the “fact-checkers” say it was taken out of context and that he didn’t really have a fraud organization. Yeah, I get it and I understand it was the dementia talking. I honestly don’t care, I just wanted to keep the Facebook goons busy. Mission accomplished!
I also saw this on Facebook and I thought it sums up the current situation in the USA quite nicely:
Nope. Time for a big dose of your own medicine.
And then Facebook gave me a big kick in the nuts with today’s memories.
Back in 2012, this was my South Carolina life with Jee Yeun. I thought it would never end, at least until I did.
Oh well. All things must pass I suppose.
How about some photos from yesterday’s hike? We set out to do the portion of Monday’s Hash trail we didn’t do on Monday. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the end with the rest of the guys. Having some lung issues lately and the uphills are more difficult than ever. I just ran out of gas and didn’t have another climb left in me. Here’s the part I did manage: (credit to Scott for most of these)
That’s me arriving at our Barretto High School meetup location.My hiking compadres for the day–Scott, Dan, Jim, and Troy.Hung out to dry.“Daddy, are they crazy?” Why yes, yes they are!Up what seemed to be an endless flight of stairs…Too late to turn back now.And then the steps turned to bags. Upward and onward!Still going up but I like it better than the stairs…Mountain living. I really don’t know how they do it.Slowly but surely.A brief respite before the final push to the top.Up we go.I think I can, I think I can…Water view.And of course, Easter mountain. Monday’s run was #1422. And so concludes another hiking post.
Bullshit! If I didn’t look back, what would I have to blog about?
Take yesterday for instance. Pretty ordinary as days go in my so-called life. Well, I did do something for the first time ever.
Baby back ribs in the crockpot ready for their slow journey to goodness.
Yeah, yeah. I’ve done ribs that way lots of times. And I usually make cornbread to go along with them. But this time I added a new ingredient to the cornbread for the first time in my life. I honestly believe I’ve never actually eaten cornbread made this way although I gather it is not unusual. So what I did was I dumped a can of whole kernel corn into the mix, after draining of course.
It didn’t make much difference in appearance after baking. I guess those little craters are a bit unusual. The texture was definitely different though. Chewier is the best description I can think of. They tasted fine but truthfully I didn’t think the corn added much to the overall flavor. I also added some honey for sweetness enhancement, but I’ve done that before.Dinner is served.
The other thing that differentiated yesterday from most days was that I made a rare trip to the mall. It’s always a bit of a pain in the ass but with these pandemic bullshit measures in place, I’d rather not be bothered. Still, sometimes necessity calls for action. I had broken my eyeglass frames the other day and my backup pair had rendered me nearly blind as some cloud-like substances had formed on the lenses and couldn’t be cleaned off. The optometrist said it was the coating that had deteriorated. My old frames couldn’t be repaired either.
New glasses were in my future and my future was now. I picked out some frames and sat for the examination. Turns out my old prescription still gives me 20/20 vision, although I’m ready to give 2021 a try. I did ask if the lenses from my broken glasses could be salvaged and was very happy that a pair of frames that fit the lens was available. Man, what a difference it made putting on spectacles that actually corrected my vision again. A good thing too because my new pair won’t be ready for at least a week.
Oh, and another pleasant surprise was that I didn’t need to wear my face shield or fill out the contact tracing paperwork to enter the mall! It pisses me off that Royal still requires that when I go grocery shopping. I guess I’ll call it progress though.
I’ll take care of my health, you take care of yours. Thank you very much.
This morning I walked past the local high school and this signage caught my eye for some reason.
I think they must have been trying too hard to make this idea work. How exactly do you advocate time? I do agree that students and teachers should strive to remain conscious though. Makes learning so much easier!
Anyway, I’ll let that piece of work speak for itself as a commentary on the quality of public education here in the PI.
Speaking of high school, back in my youth I had visions of perhaps making journalism my career. I chose a life of government service instead, although I guess now you can’t differentiate between the two as the press has gone all-in to support the deep state. These days I spend my time inflicting pain via kickass puns. I guess you might say I’m a pun dent. Ouch!
Okay, now this is actually funny. At least to us old-timers.
I reckon we’ve looked back enough for one day. I’ve got a dart tourney to attend to now.
A nice hike yesterday with Scott and Dan. We took a new (for me) way up to Kalaklan ridge (the big mountain) and then meandered around up top before making our way back down by the Great Wall.
The hike up was moderately difficult but long. The weather was comfortable and clear but I still worked up a sopping sweat. Encountered some friendly locals on our journey and found some new smiling faces to be cookie recipients. Does it get any better than that? I’ll post the photos and you decide. (Credit to Scott for a lot of these)
The route we took…As we made our way up the highway we encountered some friends coming from the opposite direction. Kismet indeed! (I just looked up the definition of kismet and I’m probably using it wrong in this context. It wasn’t destiny, but a nice happenstance.)I hope so!The climb begins…You can do it, Scott!Dan getting his rocks on…Scott’s between a rock and a hard place.I’ve got this!Some friendly folks along the way…I didn’t ask but it appears this may be four generations of a family.I crossed this bridge to get to the other side.Dan showing us the way.Are you shitting me, Scott?Yeah, I can bitch and moan about the climb but at least I wasn’t carrying a load of water on my shoulders…Rural living defined. The only access is by foot.Finally at the top. Oh, are you waiting for me?No, a fence. Intended.Horsing around.Mountain kids like cookies too! A panoramic shot from Scott’s camera…Barrio Barretto, Olongapo City, Zambales Province, Luzon Island, Republic of the Philippines.Another view from on high.I will not be cowed!Easter mountain was far away but with the camera zoom maxed she seemed as close as ever.Excuse me, you two are blocking the view.Scott traversing the Great Wall of Barretto.Heading back down, just under the wire.About halfway down we met another friendly mountain family.It must be a hard life, but they seemed like happy folk. What else are you gonna do I suppose.Nice to meet you!A little further down the mountain, we saw an old fashioned bath in a bucket.I know it’s a long post I hope you enjoyed it!
See y’all tomorrow! Well, I won’t see you, but you know what I mean.
Luckily I have some photographs to document the interesting moments that took place. Such as they were.
I played darts in the Alley Cats tourney and drew a strong partner, Billy. We faced off against Cristy and Nancy in the first round. Now, Cristy is probably the best player in Barretto right now and Nancy is a good player, although she can be a tad inconsistent. They royally kicked our ass and sent us to the loser’s bracket. I figured maybe we’d meet them in the finals but a team with an average player with a weak partner beat them. Just goes to show you can never predict the outcome of a darts match. Sometimes your hot, sometimes it’s like you never played the game before.
Anyway, we did meet Cristy and Nancy again in the losers bracket and got our revenge. Then we beat the team that had beat them and made it into the finals. We had to beat Espie and Liza twice to take the championship and that’s just what we did.
Well done, Billy!
My new blender is back from the shop and I came home after darts and gave it a try. Loaded it up with frozen strawberry, mango, ice cream, and milk and let it rip. Those razor blades sliced and diced the contents in almost no time. The damn thing still scares the hell out of me though.
I think I might have mentioned my downstairs neighbor got a videoke (karaoke) machine as a gift. As I feared, loud and off-key singing has been the evening’s treat ever since. Last night I had to sleep with music playing in my headphones to drown out the noise. Well, that’s not gonna fly. Videoke is part of the culture here and the locals play it loud and long. One of the benefits of living in Alta Vista is you tend to be above all that noise, or at least you only hear it from a distance. When I agreed that the caretakers of the property could continue living downstairs, it was just Tony and his wife. Tony is dead now but the wife has had family, including small children, staying over frequently. It’s only a one-room accommodation, not sure how they manage it. So I’m either going to have to be a prick and evict her or move when it is time to renew my lease next month. Or maybe if I ask nicely they’ll knock off the bad singing most nights. We’ll see.
Oh, and my head is still shaking about this one. Apparently, the neighbor’s husband told her that someone told him she was fucking ME for money. What the hell? First of all, I’ve never been physical with the neighbor’s wife at all. I’ve not even heard from her since the day I took her to church last week. But why would I pay to have sex with a 40-something married woman? When I want to pay for sex, I have a couple of 20-something hotties I can call. I’m actually pretty damned offended by the accusation, it seems like defamation at a minimum. Haven’t decided what if anything to do about it. Not even sure who made the allegation, it just got relayed to me third hand through my helper. I am glad I took my reader’s advice and maintained my innocence though. Might be another motivation to move, however.
Somebody’s day started much worse than mine did:
That appears to be across the river on Sawmill Road. I’d reckon that black smoke is indicative of a structure fire.
Via Facebook memories I enjoyed this photo of me and some of my former staff at our Christmas party four years ago:
Ms. Yi, Ms. Choe, and Ms. Song. Part of a great team! Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone…
A rather pleasant walk this morning with Scott and Dan. I’ll post about that tomorrow. Now it is time to prepare for another darts tournament. Speaking of darts, Facebook reminded me that eight years ago I wrote the lyrics to a song called “A Hard Darts Night” after a tough tourney loss. And yeah, I stole the tune from the Beatles, sue me!
It’s been a hard darts night And I’ve been throwing like a punk It’s been a hard darts night But at least I’m getting drunk Yet when I get to the line I think I’ll get it right this time But I still miss the out
You know I throw all day To win some money to buy my drinks And when you lose it in the final leg Well the money, it kind of stinks And so I get home and moan ‘Cause I’m to blame alone You know I can’t hit an out
When I practice, everything seems to be fine In the games, I don’t have a clue at the line, yeah, yeah, yeah
It’s been a hard darts night And I’m really having trouble It’s been a hard darts night ‘Cause I can’t hit the f’n double But I’ll be back for some more Because I’m just a darts whore And that makes me feel alright
Yeah, I won’t quit my day job. Oh, wait…
Coincidentally, today marks the 40th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder. RIP.
Yep, it was a fuck up. Something I’ve never seen happen before and hopefully, never will again. The trail wasn’t particularly well-marked but that wasn’t the worst of it. Turns out there were TWO trails, the one the Hares marked on Saturday and a different version they marked on Monday morning. Hey, nothing wrong with changing your mind but here’s a pro tip: erase the marks on the abandoned trail! Yep, you guessed it. The group I was hashing in followed the wrong trail.
It was kinda funny the way it went down. Black and Dick Her, a relatively new Hasher, was out front. We got to an intersection and she turned to the left. We called her back and pointed out that not one, but two trees, were marked with arrows pointing to the right. We teasingly chided her for not paying attention. So we headed off to the right and weren’t seeing many marks, but eventually, we’d find an indication that we were On-Trail. A bit later we encountered Anal Receptive, a very experienced Hasher, coming back towards us saying he had lost the trail. We reassured him we had just seen a trail mark and this trail was the only option, so he joined our group and we trudged on. A good bit later we did find another tree arrow confirming we were indeed on trail. And that was the last one we saw.
Luckily, we all knew where we were and took a trail that led back down to the Columban College area. On the way, we encountered another group of Hashers who had lost the trail and were taking an alternative route back to the On-Home in Alta Vista. We wished them well and continued on, not quite ready to give up yet. As we walked we discussed the best way to go and then we encountered the Hash trail mark heading towards Rizal Extension. Hmm. We all wanted to know just how we had lost the proper trail, so we decided to walk the trail backwards to see where we had gone wrong. That’s what we did and that’s how we found out that Black and Dick Her had been correct when she instinctively turned left. We also photographed the arrows indicating the right turn that we took. We continued to backtrack to the On-Home where the Hares acknowledged the error of their ways.
Anyway, no great tragedy and it did add an element of adventure to our hike. I saw the map of the second half of the trail we didn’t take and I’m not sorry I missed it. Here are some photos from the day, most of them taken by Pubic Head:
We are ON-ON!On the trail. Or are we?I’m not seeing any marks here guys?Pubic Head and Snap-On Jarhead carrying on.Still no marks…what kind of trail is this?Now we are backtracking the trail. See that powder on the tree root? That’s how you are supposed to mark the trail and there should be a mark at every possible intersection.Living in the sticks. She actually knew my name. I’d met her when she was visiting the mountain family on My Bitch trail.I did a post on erections, but get a load of this ‘cock!Some ups and downs along the way.Back to the scene of the “crime”. We followed this arrow……and this one. Whoops! Ah well. Safe and sound at the community center in Alta Vista.The Hares: Bum Burglar and Almoranus. Shooting the shit with the guys…Circle up!The Hares on ice right where they belong.It’s all about perspective I suppose. This Husky LOVES spending time on the ice. Imagine that! Pubic Head did a nice photo collage of Flaming Asshole getting a Hash-style birthday cake…
I wound up getting drunker than normal and went straight home after the Hash. Up earlier than usual since I was in bed before eight. Yeah, no shit, that’s just sad.
But it was nice to see the sun come up from my desk.Inspired me to make a healthy breakfast.If yesterday’s trail was a post, it would look like this one.
How’s that title work for clickbait? No worries, this is not about my erection (I don’t have one) and all of the photos are safe for work.
Another Hash Monday is upon us and with it comes a morning-time post about the events that occurred in my so-called life in those very few hours since my last update. Not much to say about the gin and sodas I enjoyed at Cheap Charlies other than to report that my reduction of beer and bread seems to be working. Down seven pounds now and nine more to go to reach my 195-pound goal.
I also visited the Palm Tree hotel for dinner, which is right next door to Mango’s. I’m afraid my days of being a regular at Mango’s may have come to an end. The big attraction there for me had always been sitting beachside and enjoying the view. But the reopening of the floating island with all its residual impacts has completely blocked the view of the mountains and sunsets.
Yeah, Palm Tree is responsible for this erection but at least their bar is on the second floor allowing me to, ahem, overlook the mess they created.
In other news, some cunt has reported to the government that bars are operating again in Barretto. Technically, bars are prohibited under quarantine rules but restaurants can operate and serve alcoholic beverages along with food. So, the bars in Barretto all became restaurants and life has gotten a little closer to normal. The mayor has called for a meeting with the bar restaurant owners on Tuesday. Hopefully, they won’t be forced to shut down again.
I don’t want to be normal.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I confined my afternoon walking to the neighborhood. I can walk all the streets in about an hour. To make it a little more interesting I took some photos of all the erections I saw along the way. There’s a bit of a housing boom taking place in Alta Vista these days. Several new homes have just been completed and I counted eleven more in various stages of construction during my walk. Even at that, I’d guess less than 20% of the available lots have been built on.
This one is probably 99% completed now. In fact, when I walked past this morning I saw people moving in.This one has a long way to go yet. It’s being built to Western standards though with poured concrete instead of hollow block construction.Another one almost completed now. This is the construction that blocked my access to the My Bitch trail. Lately, I’ve taken to walking along the outside of that fence on the left to reach the trail. Hopefully, I’ll be able to continue to do so once the house is occupied.They were going like gangbusters on this one but I’ve not seen a worker on-site for a couple of weeks now. Maybe the owner has run out of money?This one has been making slow but steady progress for going on a year now. It’s getting there.On the other hand, this house right across the street has not had a nail pounded since the COVID insanity started in March. Don’t know if those two events are related…This one is also getting close after a year’s work. It’s the largest house I’ve seen in Alta Vista and has a million-dollar view. In fact, it takes two photos to give you an idea of the scale…See what I mean? Wow! I can see some great parties on that terrace…This is probably the newest start and they are making good progress…Another gigantic house almost completed. I like the looks of the place but it doesn’t have the great vistas of some of the other houses here.And finally, this will be my new neighbor and is being built by a Hasher–Leech My Nuggets. Welcome to Alta Vista!
Speaking of Alta Vista, today’s Hash will be starting and ending at the community center. My crew will be providing the foodservice once again. I’m contributing a double batch of slow-cooked chili con carne.
Twice the ingredients, twice the goodness? I hope!Frankfurters on fresh buns from Angel’s bakery…Pork kebabs…All at a fair price!
And here’s the secret to great BBQ:
My food is great when you are drunk…
All right, that’s it for now. Got to prepare myself for today’s adventure on the Hash trail. I’ll be back tomorrow with a full report!
Not that it matters, all my days are pretty much the same around here. Well, there’s no darts today but that’s okay. I didn’t feel like playing last night but I wound up doing the tourney anyway. My first instinct proved correct. Oh well.
I’m actually feeling low energy today for some reason. No fever or other physical manifestations. Blood pressure is higher than I like (146/87) but I don’t worry until I break the 150 barrier. I had planned to do the beach walk to the old Navy base and back but then decided I’d just do the streets of Barretto for my 10,000-morning steps.
Came back home still feeling lethargic. Got a message from Nikole the masseuse saying she was in town. I told her I wasn’t feeling well. She said she could make me feel good. I declined which is probably the best evidence of my mood today. I took a good nap and feel a little better now. Will probably stick to the neighborhood for my afternoon walk though.
So this is a nothing day and nothing post, even by my low standards. Here’s a couple of photos from Friday’s walk I never got around to posting to tide you over.
I never tire of the bay views……and the valley views are pleasing as well.A flowery vine-covered shack was visually appealing.And my favorite from the hike. It almost feels like a metaphor for my life, but I can’t explain why.I guess that’s enough selfie reflection for one post.
It will get better. It always does.
In the park I saw a daddy With a laughin’ little girl who he was swinging And I stopped beside a Sunday school And listened to the song that they were singing Then I headed back for home And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringing And it echoed through the canyons Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday
On the Sunday morning sidewalk Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned ‘Cause there’s something in a Sunday Makes a body feel alone And there’s nothin’ short of dyin’ Half as lonesome as the sound On the sleepin’ city sidewalks Sunday morning coming down
I’m not a believer so I don’t really believe that. It’s probably just sheer coincidence. Still, it makes you think.
The first incident took place 43 years ago in 1977. I was a mailman in Anaheim, California at the time. I doubt if I ever would have even thought of the event if something I read on Quora hadn’t yanked me back in time to that fateful day. Here is the question that was posed:
I wasn’t the boss but had it happen to me. Back when I was a letter carrier with the USPS we had to “bid” on vacation dates based on seniority. Only a certain percentage of employees were allowed to be off at any given time. Anyway, I had the first week in June and another guy had the second week. A few days after the bidding was over, the other carrier came to me and said his plans had changed and would I mind switching with him. I didn’t have anything going on that week so I said sure, let’s clear it with the boss. So we approached the supervisor and told him what we wanted to do. He replied, no problem and instructed us both to fill out a leave form canceling the approved time off and then fill out another form requesting the new dates. And so we did just that.
Once he had our cancellation forms he took our names off the board showing approved leave. And then he DENIED our new leave requests saying another carrier was on extended leave and so the maximum number of carriers was already off. In other words, both of us lost our planned leave. He was gleeful as he told us and it was obvious he had suckered us into canceling our prior approved leave.
So, all these years later I just want to say thank you, Mr. Frank Nathan. Your actions that day caused me to join the union and later become a shop steward and eventually the president of the local union branch. My work with the union impressed the HR Director and she promoted me into my first management job. I had over 35 years of government service when I retired as a GS-15 Human Resources Director and I’m now living a happy life on my pension in the Philippines.
I honestly never really thought about how that incident may have played a role in changing my life. I recall being very pissed at the time and talking to my union steward about it. He agreed that the supervisor was being an asshole but he was also technically within his rights to deny our leave requests after we had canceled the previously approved leave. It was a lesson learned and one that helped me become a better leader. I’m sure you are long dead by now Mr. Nathan but you are proof of the old saying that no man is totally worthless–he can always serve as a bad example.
And then there was the thing that happened this morning. My neighbor’s wife had asked if she could join me on one of my hikes. Well, I’ve been following the advice of my commenters to the post linked above and maintaining my distance from “Judy”. But it’s nice to have company when I’m walking and really, it’s an innocent thing so I figured no big deal. We had agreed on Sunday but she sent a message saying she needed to go to church on Sunday and asked to join me today. Fine, let’s go. She wanted to meet up the road a piece, I guess so her hubby wouldn’t see us walking together. Anyway, we met up and set out. I took her out the back way from Alta Vista and then down through Marian Hills. We had to avoid some dogs and do some puddle jumping but she was a good sport about it. She really was surprised seeing some of the sights that have become old hat to me, so that was pleasant. I thought she might get tired out early on but she was a good trooper.
As we walked, we talked of course. She said her husband hasn’t been feeling well so this walk was a break for her. She told me of her efforts to gain legal status in her husband’s home country of Switzerland that has been stymied by the logistical restrictions due to COVID. Then she talked about her church. She told me she had resided in the church for several years serving as a missionary. They would go on missions to convert Catholics to the true “born again” faith. As she went on and on I asked if she were trying to evangelize me. She laughed but didn’t deny it. I asked where her church was located and she told me Olongapo City. She mentioned the name but the only part that stood out was “4th Watch”. I didn’t recall hearing that before, but it was still vaguely familiar.
About an hour and a half into our walk, along a route I take on a regular basis, we turned a corner and I saw this sign:
Over the course of several months I had observed this church being constructed but otherwise paid it no heed. But that was where I had seen that “4th Watch” term.
When I pointed it out to “Judy” she was both shocked and excited. She had no idea a branch of her faith was out here in the sticks of San Isidro. Of course, she wanted to go in and have a look-see. And this is where it got a little weird. Everyone in the building appeared to know her! They beckoned me inside and I reluctantly entered so as not to appear rude. Then we got invited into the parsonage where Judy engaged in banter with an older woman and I accepted a chair offered by a cute young woman. And then the “bishop” came in and we exchanged introductions and some small talk. The usual where are you from, are you a believer type talk (my standard response is I raised in the Pentecostal faith) you’d expect in this situation. They did comment on my Biblical name, so I dutifully recounted John 3:16 from memory. They all seemed quite impressed. Anyway, it wasn’t unpleasant and they all seemed warm and welcoming like any good Christian should be.
It was all news to “Judy” that the Olongapo church was now closed and all these people she knew from there were assigned to this new mission building. I was invited to join them for Sunday services and I was non-committal, but of course, that’s not going to happen. Not sure if “Judy” is going to make it, but it’s an easy trike ride from here. She also took pictures with me and the Bishop which made me a little uncomfortable. I asked her after we departed how she was going to explain my being there with her. She already had told them the “truth”–I was a neighbor and a friend who had graciously shown her the way to the new church building which I had discovered on my many walks through the area. Okay then.
Anyway, for the remainder of the walk, it was all about “God’s plan” and how He had used me to guide her to the new church. I finally had to make it abundantly clear that I did not now, nor would I ever, be sharing in her religious beliefs. Things got a little quiet after that. As we neared the highway, a trike driver offered a ride. I declined, she accepted. So I walked the rest of the way home alone and haven’t heard from her since. Perhaps I never will again. That would I guess be God’s will.
Although I was now walking alone, I did encounter this cutie walking in front of me:
I wasn’t sure if her shirt was yet another message from God.
And oh yeah, as I was entering my neighborhood I met “Judy’s” husband as he was walking out. We exchanged nods in greeting. It was a weird end to a rather bizarre hike.
Okay, well that never happened to me. Although Se Hwa did break up with me by email. Ah, memories!
But this DID happen to me yesterday:
Final score: Billy wins 9-7
I started out on fire, leading at one point 6-2. And then the wheels came off. Went into the final leg tied at 7 and the match on the line and couldn’t pull it out. Very disappointing. Be careful what you ask for I suppose. I was striving for consistency. I was consistently good in the beginning and consistently sucked in the end. And no, I was not suffering from alcohol-related hand/eye coordination issues; I intentionally limited my beer intake during the match. I think my performance issues are mostly in my head–I need better focus and concentration. Anyway, I’ll keep working on it. At least I lost to a very good player who was throwing excellent darts throughout the match.
Ah, well. Life goes on. And there is more to life than darts. Like taking the dogs out for a walk and a pee.
Not sure why that toilet was there, maybe somehow related to the house being constructed next door.
Over on the Subic Hash Facebook page, Pubic Head posted photos from run #1276, which was held on January 1, 2018. That’s an important date in history because it was my first ever Hash experience. Yep, I lost my virginity that day. Here are a few photos from that event:
All loaded up and ready to roll with my first ride in the Hashmobile. Gem was with me for my last visit to Barretto before making the move. I enjoyed her company but sadly she turned out to be a liar and a scammer. Another hard lesson for me.My first Hash trail. Sure could have used my trekking pole that day!My first Hash circle.The deflowering ritual.Drink it down down down down…
And now I have 121 runs completed with the Subic Bay Hash House Harriers. Glad I joined!
After my disappointing darts performance yesterday, I came home and made dinner. Roast chicken, pumpkin soup, cauliflower, garlic bread, and fruit salad! It was all good. Or I was drunk. Or both.
I’m no Richard, but sometimes I can be a dick:
Bada Bing!
And as long as I’m on a roll, how about this:
Alright, I’ll stop for now. Planning to throw in the dart tourney at Alley Cats tonight. Yes, I said tonight. They have finally changed the start time to a more reasonable 5:00 p.m. in recognition of the new midnight curfew. That works so much better for me.
Here’s the latest installment of happenings in my so-called life. Sorry if you have heard it all before. I spend my hours engaging in activities that revolve around my walkaholism and alcoholism, and lately, I’ve been working on becoming a dartaholic. Take yesterday for example:
Walking: Hooked up with the Wednesday Walkers group for a pleasant enough 6K hike, a goodly portion of which took place on the My Bitch trail. We were doing some preliminary scouting for next week’s Hash trail that one of our group members will Hare. I’m not real keen on this activity, notwithstanding its necessity. Scouting is like exploring in the sense that you are never sure what you are getting yourself into until it is too late to do anything about it. We found a new way up the mountain (I wouldn’t call it a path as that would be disrespectful to the true paths that people actually trod), but if indeed that is part of Monday’s Hash I’ll be taking an alternative route.
Making like Lewis and Clark on Wednesday’s walk. I’ll throw up some more pictures later in this post.
Darting: I won my singles league match 11-5 but it was much closer than the final score might indicate. I was surprised at how well my opponent who is relatively new to the game played. Every leg was hard-fought and could have gone either way. Nina actually won the 501 set by a 3-2 score and I won both the cricket and 301 sets 4-1. I prefer cricket because it requires both more skill (fewer lucky shots) and involves some strategy and gamesmanship. I was impressed that Nina picked up on my pointing methods and started incorporating them into her play. The real purpose of the singles league is to help folks improve their game. Nina is going to be a very skillful player by the end of the season. I’m happy about that.
The scoresheet from our match. I was a bit more consistent which is one of my goals. I was also happy that I was hitting the bullseye with some regularity. I’ve got a long way to go to get back to being the player I once was though.
Drinking: After my match, I headed over to Cheap Charlies for some more beer and vittles. Had the beef stew from Foodies downstairs delivered and bought a new bargirl a couple of lady drinks. As I watched the world pass by outside I had to shake my head at one of the remaining vestiges of stupidity being enforced in the Holy name of COVID.
There is a checkpoint on the highway right after you cross the bridge to Subic town. I have no idea what the purpose is. I walk through all the time and never get questioned. The few times I’ve gone in a vehicle we just say a random destination like “Waltermart” and get waved through. But the result of this idiocy is a traffic jam that backs up all the way through Barretto.
Here’s how it looked last night. The actual checkpoint is about 2K down the highway. And the traffic was backed up as far as I could see in the other direction too.
The worst part is that it makes it incredibly dangerous to be a pedestrian. If you are foolhardy enough to walk on the side of the road that has the traffic backup you’ll be dodging jeepneys, trikes, and scooters the whole way as they use the shoulder to try and bypass the stopped cars. I usually do the other side of the highway but even there, scooters and trikes drive on the shoulder in the WRONG direction to avoid the traffic jam. It’s really disconcerting to have these guys coming up from behind with no warning a whizzing past you.
The mess these idiots have created is far worse than the virus they are allegedly trying to prevent. Certainly more dangerous. Okay, rant over.
I got home around 7 and almost immediately the power went out. I sat around in candlelight for a while then said fuck it and headed up to bed. It gets damned uncomfortable without even a fan to move the air around. I was still tossing and turning and sweating when the power was restored.
And that was my day. Yesterday was also a special anniversary:
The day I broke the 50,000 step barrier. I don’t expect I’ll ever do that again.The face you make when you take that step that puts your right on 50,000.
Alright, here’s a few shots from yesterday’s walk:
My fellow travelers: Scott, Dan, Troy, and Jim.This is like the stump that tripped me up and cut me up on Monday’s Hash. Sneaky bastards!The rarely seen egg tree.Somebody’s Home Sweet Home.And as always, Easter mountain was keeping a watch over us.
That’s all for today. I have another singles league match to play today. My opponent is a much stronger and experienced player so I expect I’ll have a real battle on my hands.
It pains me to say this but yesterday’s Hash proved to be, well, interesting. And not necessarily in a good way.
Things took a turn for the unexpected when I arrived at the meet-up location only to be told that a large group had already departed. I checked my watch and it was only 11:40. The run was supposed to begin at noon. What got my goat though was that the group of female Hashers I “sponsor” (pay their $7.00 entry fee) had left without me. I’m not sure why that bothered me so much, I guess it just made me feel like a chump. So I started the trail in a foul mood.
I can’t say that my state of mind was a contributing factor, but early in the climb up Black Rock mountain I somehow got distracted and tripped over a stump in the trail. The resulting loss of balance caused me to fall over sideways and onto another tree stump. My pride was hurt as much as anything, but I did spill some blood on the trail.
The scratch was long and deep, but it cleaned up just fine.In addition to earning some time on the ice for my crime, I’ve earned another one of these badges.
I was still pissed when I arrived at the On-Home venue and made it clear that I wouldn’t be paying sponsor fees in the future Yeah, I can be an asshole like that at times. One of the girls left in tears. It was probably as much a matter of misinformation as bad intent I suppose. I’m over it now. Mostly.
Anyway, here are some pictures from Subic Bay Hash Run #1421. As usual, I pulled these off our Facebook page so not all of them are mine. Credit where it is due and all that.
A high-flying birds-eye view of the trail. Easy to spot the Black Rock climb.And it’s On-On!And On-Up!The steps at the beginning of the climb were tall and uneven making it all the more challenging.That’s more like it!A little rock climbing along the way.Some eye candy to enjoy…A bay view from on high.This tree caught my eye.Almost to the top!Not sure if you can make it out in this photo, but those houses in the center on the far side of the valley are in the Alta Vista subdivision where I reside.A Filipina in the wild. Probably the most dangerous thing encountered on trail. I like it!The view is great from here.Black Rocks Matter!Getting down was a whole other kind of challenge…Luckily the rocks were not particularly slippery. Wouldn’t want to do this descent in the rain though.There are only two ways down…this one or the quick one. The quick one won’t kill you, but the sudden stop at the bottom might!And what would a Hash post be without the obligatory photo of Easter mountain?
I skipped the last portion of the trail and took the highway. Just didn’t have another climb in my tired old body. Plus, I had lost a lot of blood. Yeah, that’s my story! Actually, I did hear that one of the Hashers had to go to the hospital for stitches after taking a fall coming down Black Rock. I guess I got nothing to complain about.
It’s another Hash Monday and that means a short morning post with less substance than normal. You are welcome!
Man, that has a familiar ring to it.
I do sense and feel an increasing decline in my mental faculties lately. The symptoms manifest in various ways. Forgetfulness is one of the biggest. Last night I left the bar, got a ways down the street, and then realized I’d left my phone behind. I’m sure my faithful readers have noticed a worse than usual butchering of the English language here. You should see it before I do the cursory proof-read. There’s the not uncommon leaving a word out of the sentence. Sometimes I will use an entirely wrong word that has no context or meaning within the thought I was trying to convey. In my head, I’m thinking one thing and my fingers are typing something entirely different. One of these days I’m liable to wake up, look in the mirror, and see Joe Biden. Scary!
Yesterday afternoon I walked out to Baloy to play in the Lagoon dart tourney. The manager sadly explained that the Sunday tournament was no longer being held because the pool league has started up again and the person who ran the tourney plays pool on Sunday now. Well, damn. Still, it is yet another indication that little by little things are going back to normal around here.
As normal as they used to be, which is not all that normal. I got a nasty surprise when I reviewed my bank statement yesterday. I had made a 10,000 peso ATM withdrawal a few days ago, But the ATM said I made TWO withdrawals of 10,000 peso. I’ve reported to my credit union in the USA and will attempt to get the local bank here to issue a refund. I’m not hopeful though. I requested a receipt when I made the withdrawal but the machine didn’t issue one. That’s a $200 dollar scam!
Today I went to the money changer to exchange some dollars for pesos. Tomorrow is December and so I need extra money to pay my helpers the traditional “13th-month” salary. I guess in the States we’d call it a Christmas bonus, but here it is part of the labor laws governing salaried employees. Technically, my helpers are independent contractors, not employees. I expect them to pay taxes and social security on their own. Anyway, two different money changers rejected a couple of my $100 bills because they weren’t in perfect condition. I could understand it if they were torn or defaced, but these just had some minor defect that I couldn’t see when pointed out to me. Oh well, I’ll spend them in the USA if I ever make it back there.
Since I couldn’t play darts yesterday, I walked back into town and had a couple of beers at BarCelona. Then I headed up the street to Sit-n-Bull for an early dinner.
Damn, the pulled pork there is amazing. I love their coleslaw too. I was a happy camper after that meal.
Then I moved on to Mango’s to finish my day.
Work continues next door on the whole beachside floating island. Lots of Filipinos enjoying a Sunday at the beach once again. I only saw one or two foreigners. That may be the new normal too.
After some more beer, I walked on home. Just as I arrived the full moon peeked out at me from between the clouds.
Like an eye in the sky.
So, time to get ready for today’s Hash. I’m not expecting any surprises because I participated in scouting the trail on Wednesday and Friday. The first part of today’s Hash will be up Black Rock mountain. Not an easy climb but not Guenter-like either. The last portion we scouted on Friday and it was not pleasant. I’m not sure if the Hare’s have made any adjustments or not. I guess I’ll be finding out in a couple of hours.
Here are some photos from Friday’s scouting expedition:
We were working the trail in reverse on Friday. So, this part will be downhill today.I’ve already got plenty of cookies loaded up in the backpack.If those walls could talk I reckon it would be a tale of broken dreams.Keeping things tidy on trail.And yes, Easter mountain will loom large over today’s hike.What I am not looking forward to today is making my way through the thick and tall Imperata cylindrical, aka thatch grass. The wiki link is actually pretty interesting. During our struggles on Friday we jokingly talked about bringing some matches next time. Probably not a good idea.Anyway, I hope I didn’t get too much into the weeds with this post.
Okay, gotta run now. Well, walk. You know what I mean.
Another lazy Sunday around here. Not much happening and even less happening that is worthy of noting here. That’s never stopped me before though, so here goes nothing.
Played darts in the Alley Cat tournament yesterday and finished third. I had moments where I was absolutely brilliant, including a 135 outshot. Other times it was like I’d never picked up a dart in my life. Overcoming that inconsistency is one of my improvement goals. Perhaps the singles league competition will help me get there.
Speaking of the singles league, I updated the stats and posted the standings this morning.
Some folks have played more matches than others, so the “average” column is a better indicator of where things stand.
I plan to play in the Lagoon tourney out on Baloy this afternoon.
Ever so slowly, things are moving back in the direction of normal. Some of the stupid and nonsensical rules imposed to prevent the spread of COVID have been eased, probably as much in recognition of the fact that people were ignoring them as anything. Anyway, the curfew is back to midnight, not that I ever see midnight these days. Dining is permitted outside now, so my favorite seating at Sit-n-Bull is available once more. I had mentioned before that beaches were swarming with Filipino families (as opposed to the foreign tourists you used to see here) and now the inflatable islands are back in place, at least at the Palm Tree Resort.
I don’t like the fact that it hinders my view from Mango’s, but I’m actually happy to see things opening back up.
From everything I’ve seen, things are still full-on stupid in the USA. The lefty governors seem to be really enjoying playing their role as petty tyrants and dictators. It’s surprising to me a “free” are putting up with such nonsense. It’s so gratifying seeing Filipinos standing up and through their actions saying “Enough!”
Let my Sheeple go!
The arrogant ignorance of the lefties is quite a sight to behold. The indoctrination program in colleges and universities seems to be quite successful. Free will and free thinking I guess are racist or something.
I posted this on my Facebook. My nephew, who fits this profile perfectly, responded “okay, boomer.” Which proves the point I was making. I’ve never seen so many “smart” people act so dumb.
Oh, well. They will deserve the hell they are creating.
I thought this was pretty funny. Showed it to some Filipinas and they didn’t get it. I guess that whole stork delivering babies thing never took hold here. One of them asked me “what’s a stork?” Ah, well. Never mind then.
That’s about it for today. Need to head out to the pharmacy:
Time to get my prescription refilled.
Actually, I’ll be fine. I hope those aren’t famous last words.
I got to thinking (shuddup!) on my morning walk today. It occurred to me that there is no future for me to worry about. I’m not sure that this realization constitutes an epiphany, I mean, it’s not like I’ve been working towards any goal attainment or making other future-driven plans. Probably the last thing I aspired to do was finding a true and lasting love to share my life with. Having let go of that dream for good I have to face the fact that this life I’m living is all there is and all there ever will be. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that is a bad thing, I’m just consciously accepting the reality of my situation.
I’m 65 years old. What kind of future goals could I expect to achieve in the ten or fifteen years (if I’m lucky) I have left here on earth? I’m retired, so there is nothing work-related to accomplish. I’m living on a pension, so for better or worse, what I have now is all I’m ever going to have. Of course, there are things I still aspire to do, like travel, but under the current lockdown circumstances throughout the world that’s not possible. So it would seem that all my dreams are in the past. Perhaps that explains why nearly all my brain comforting fantasies involve going backward in time.
But here in the real world, this day is what I have. Like yesterday was and tomorrow will be. There is a Groundhog Day quality to the sameness of it all. Hell, you’ve read the blog. I wake up, I hike, I drink, I sleep, and then do it all over again. And again. Sure, some of the details and people around me change day-to-day, but the reality is that this life is what I’ve chosen and this life is what I’ll be living until it ends. I suspect that even the invocation of Plan B (moving to Cambodia) would only change the location, but not the substance of my life. Such as it is.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this life I’ve chosen is a bad thing. Indeed, I reckon some people would say I’m living the dream. Nothing is perfect and I have my share of disappointments and frustrations, but I honestly cannot think of anywhere else I’d want to be or that would make me happier. I’ve likened Barretto to those retirement communities I used to see in Arizona when I was a young man. But this one I’m living in is like nothing I could have imagined back then. Yeah, we’ve got our share of crotchety old fuckers but we are surrounded by brown-skinned beauties willing to service our needs and desires. And I don’t just mean sex, although that is obviously available too. I’ve got friends and acquaintances I can hang out with who share some of my passions and interests. There are the Hash and darts, and of course, the bars to keep me entertained. And every morning when I walk the dogs and look around me I’m still astounded by the natural beauty of my surroundings, even after nearly three years of living here.
So, this day and all the days to come are my future. I’m okay with that.
Yesterday’s sunset. Today’s will be the same, only different. Like tomorrow.
Yesterday’s Thanksgiving gathering turned out to be a pleasant affair–plenty of good vittles and a comfortable outdoor venue at the community center. Oh, the people in attendance were nice too!
The bird before slicing and serving…That’s my co-host Ed putting the food on the table as it were. In the foreground is my Aunt Pat’s recipe fruit salad. Most of it got eaten so I guess that’s pretty good feedback. I thought it came out well. The womenfolk and kids were crazy about the Choco Pies from Korea.That’s the food table from the other side. The last three cans of cranberry in the Philippines for all we know. The ham was also quite tasty. My first plate of grub. I had teasingly told Ed to save me a drumstick and when he brought it out of hiding I felt obligated to eat it. I do like dark meat, just prefer wings…Here are some pics I didn’t take (I can tell because I’m in them). Like me loading up a plate with TG goodness.Devouring my meal…All that beer wasn’t gonna keep itself cold. And we consumed LOTS of beer.The lady folks hanging out…And all us manly men talking shit, Everyone got along though.This is the other John (seated) at our party. He’s from Wales. For some reason I told him the song “Battle of New Orleans” was an American traditional Thanksgiving song. And then I proceeded to sing it to him (I may have been a little drunk by then). He was a good sport about it though, telling me that in the UK they celebrate Thanksgiving on July 4. I thought that was a worthy comeback!
Anyway, it was a great afternoon and everyone in attendance seemed to enjoy the food and the company. I’m thankful for that!
(It’s odd that as bad as my memory is getting I still remembered the lyrics to this song)
In 1814 we took a little trip Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip We took a little bacon and we took a little beans And we caught the bloody British in a town in New Orleans
We fired our guns and the British kep a-comin’ There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago We fired once more and they begin to runnin’ On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico
We looked down a river And we see’d the British come And there must have been a hundred of’em Beatin’ on the drums They stepped so high And they made their bugles ring We stood by our cotton bales And didn’t say a thing
We fired our guns and the British kep a-comin’ There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago We fired once more and they begin to runnin’ On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico
Old Hickory said we could take ’em by surprise If we didn’t fire our muskets ‘Till we looked ’em in the eyes We held our fire ‘Till we see’d their faces well Then we opened up our squirrel guns And really gave ’em – well we
Fired our guns and the British kep a-comin’ There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago We fired once more and they begin to runnin’ On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico
Yeah, they ran through the briars And they ran through the brambles And they ran through the bushes Where the rabbit couldn’t go They ran so fast That the hounds couldn’t catch ’em On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico
We fired our cannon ’til the barrel melted down So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind And when we touched the powder off the gator lost his mind
We fired our guns and the British kep a-comin’ There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago We fired once more and they begin to runnin’ On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico
Yeah, they ran through the briars And they ran through the brambles And they ran through the bushes Where the rabbit couldn’t go They ran so fast That the hounds couldn’t catch ’em On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico
Wishing my American readers a heartfelt Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for stopping by!
Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday, my good intentions went awry. Did my Wednesday group hike as usual (more on that later) and had a Barretto Singles League dart match scheduled for 2 p.m. I thought I’d have time between those two events to throw something up here but alas, the hours got away from me. I’ll vomit up twice as much today to make up for it, fair enough?
When it comes to giving thanks we can always be thankful that things aren’t worse. Don’t get me wrong, I am blessed indeed. But that doesn’t mean it’s a perfect life. For example, that new blender I bought which was featured on thrivecuisine.com?
The one with those 6 powerful ice cutting blades that would make my smoothies a snap to prepare?
Well, I loaded that fucker up with all my frozen fruit ingredients, plugged it in, hit the switch, and nothing. Damn it! I figured maybe the shaft holding those blades hadn’t been inserted properly into the base so I reached in to check. Yikes! Those blades are as sharp as razors. No shit, I barely touched one and it sliced deep into my finger. Hurt like hell and bled like it wasn’t going to stop. My helper cleaned it up for me and taped a wad of cotton over the wound and thankfully I survived.
The blender was on sale and cost a little over 3000 pesos, the same as my driver charged for the trip to San Fernando. So taking it back to S&R for exchange or refund wasn’t an option. My helper gave me shit for not having it tested in the store before making the purchase. I’m like, who does that? Open a new box and make sure it works first? Only in the Philippines. Anyway, my driver knows a guy who does appliance repairs so we’ll see if that works out. Honestly though, I’m kind of scared of the damn thing now that I know it bites!
In addition to slowly losing my mind, I also lost my darts. As I was rushing around to head out for my match on Baloy, I reached for my darts in the usual location and they weren’t there. A frantic search of the unusual locations was also fruitless. In desperation I grabbed my backup set of darts–ones I won at a raffle years ago and have never used. I hope I never have to use them again. The shaft/barrel of the dart is almost twice the length of my old set. That makes a huge difference, especially given my relatively gentle and looping throwing style. So the result was my dart would hit the board but not stick firmly in place. It would lean down and block the rest of that number, sort of like this:
So, if I threw another dart at the 20 it would either be deflected, bounce out, or worse yet, knock the first dart off the board. I wound up having to adjust my throwing strategies to deal with this issue and that put me off my game somewhat.
Now, I’m normally a stronger player than my opponent but this handicap made the games a lot closer than I expected. I still managed to win 12 of the 15 legs played, but most of the games were very close.
My opponent, Dorie, is on the right. Jocelyn, on the left, graciously volunteered to be our scorekeeper. After the match Dorie told me she came in hoping to win one leg so she was thrilled to win three. “I hope you lose your darts more ofter” was her parting shot. Good games though. This league is really designed to help people like Dorie improve their dart skills. She’s gonna do fine!
After the match I set out to retrace my steps from the night before. I was hoping I hadn’t left them in the trike that brought me home but I reasoned the driver would have returned them if I had, knowing there would likely be a reward. So my first stop was Sit-n-Bull where I had enjoyed a plate of baby back ribs the night before after the dart tourney. And when I walked in the door, the cashier held up my dart case and said “look what we found!” Yay! What a relief!
What else? Well, my massuse, Nikole, had asked me for an advance on her salary so she could buy food for her kids. Normally I wouldn’t entertain such a request but since I had cancelled our Sunday appointment on short notice, I was feeling a little guilty. The very next day I get a message saying she was in Manila now and didn’t know when, or if, she’d be back. Oh well, I’ll consider it severance pay then.
When one door closes another opens, or so they saying goes. When I opened my door to head out for darts yesterday I was surprised to see Catherine standing there. She’s the Wet Spot dancer who lives nearby I hooked up with a couple of times. I eventually had to block her on Facebook/messenger because she was always harassing me for money for some emergency or another. Anyway, this time she needed some cash to pay rent. Again, I would normally have said no, but damn, she looked so hot standing there in her short shorts. I had darts to get to though so I “loaned” her the money and said she could come over to pay me back on Friday. She agreed to those terms. We’ll she is she shows. And don’t worry, this is purely transactional in nature! I won’t get sucked in. Er, let me rephrase that…
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my neighbor Ed and I are sponsoring a Thanksgiving get together this afternoon at the Alta Vista community center. I bought the turkey (although Ed is grilling it) and Ed is bringing a ham, candied yams, and a green bean casserole. Our guests should also be supplying some additional side dishes.
I’ve got the pies covered…And of course my traditional Aunt Pat’s Recipe World Famous Fruit Salad.Had to make some modifications (like walnuts in lieu of pecans). The fresh coconut is also not as sweet as the kind that comes in a bag which also is not sold here. Anyway, this batch passed my taste test, so there’s that at least.
I’ll post tomorrow about how the event went down.
So, yesterday we hiked 7K, trekking up the backside of Black Rock mountain. It was the first time I’d taken that route up Black Rock and despite a difficult climb (aren’t they all?) I rather enjoyed it. The unique thing about Black Rock is the panoramic views from up top. Hell, let’s go to the photos and you can see for yourself.
I think this Google-eye view shows what I mean. Black Rock (top left) stands above valleys and flatlands on either side with nothing to impair the view.Getting some early thanks for giving during the hike.Hello to Easter mountain from ground level.Hello again from Black Rock…A bay view. The thatch grass was in full bloom making the going a little tougher than it otherwise would have been.
Why do they call it Black Rock?Almost to the top…I can see for miles and miles…Choose life, Troy!Come on up, Scott!Like the 3 Kings of old on a mountaintop throne…Are you lost in there?One of my favorite views. Wish I had a better camera.Although even the best camera wouldn’t help that face much…Time to head back down…You guys waiting for me?Walking home via the National highway. The three main modes of transportation are captured here…motor scooter, tricycle, and Jeepney.Everyone is excited about the grand opening next week of our very own Wilcon store here in Barretto. It is a giant hardware store, sorta like Home Depot back in the USA.
Anyway, an enjoyable hike. It’s going to be part of the Hash trail next week so I reckon I’ll be doing it again on Monday.
UPDATE: Okay, now that’s pretty funny. While finishing this post I get a message from Catherine: you want me to come there? No, not today. I’m busy. Tomorrow afternoon. Okay, do you have food? Huh? What do you mean? I’m hungry and no food in the house. Geez.
So, I scraped together some canned goods and some rice from my own pantry. I just couldn’t say no to giving food on Thanksgiving. And damn, when she came to pick it up…she’s a hottie that really trips my triggers. Tomorrow it will be her turn to satisfy my hunger.
