In the minority

Not in the Philippines
It’s hotter than it has ever been since I moved here six years ago

My walkaholic habit has continued despite the heat, but the intense sun evaporates much of the enjoyment. I still managed to suffer through an 8K solo hike yesterday, but I was whacked when I finished.

Living on the bay. Literally.
Not sure I’d like living next to this mosquito farm
As close as I came to Easter Mountain on my Thursday trek
The path I took wasn’t cool

But you just gotta keep pushin’ on.

The day’s big event was the rooftop gathering of Swan’s friends and family to commemorate the first anniversary of Alan’s passing, the man Swan spent seventeen years loving. I wasn’t sure what to expect, although I assumed some of Alan’s friends (he was a Brit) would be there. Nope. Almost all Filipinas and a handful of Filipinos. Until my next-door neighbor Jeff showed up, I was the only Caucasian in attendance. That was kinda weird. People appeared to be having fun and I was impressed with the amount of beer and wine that was being consumed, especially by the gals. And, of course, it wasn’t long before the karaoke broke out. I was a little taken aback that I didn’t hear one word about Alan, who I thought was the reason we were there. Again, I have no experience with events of this nature, and I just went with the flow. Well, towards the end of the evening I did sing the Alan Parsons song I posted yesterday in Alan’s honor.

Goodbye my love
Maybe for forever
Goodbye my love
The tide waits for me
Who knows when we shall meet again
If ever
But time
Keeps flowing like a river (on and on)
To the sea
To the sea

Till it's gone forever
Gone forever
Gone forevermore

Anyway, it may have made Swan a little sad, but the party continued in full swing. In fact, we ran out of beer around nine o’clock, and I said my goodnights, but the remaining guests partied on. I woke up a couple of hours later and could still hear singing on the roof.

The Rite Spot is open for business
All setup and ready to go. Swan said she expected around ten attendees, but it turned out to be closer to twenty.
The food table stocked with a variety of Filipino favorites. I contributed a crockpot of meatballs and brownies.
The early arrivals went for food first
I’ve never seen that from the roof before. Seeing a parasailer without the bay in the picture makes it look more like an airplane disaster.
More guests arrived
The party in full swing
Let the bad singing commence!
Time, flowing like a river
Time, beckoning me
Gone but not forgotten. Rest in Peace, Alan.
Night descends, and we party on
A moment of quiet reflection for Swan
I’m not sure who this gal is, but she could sure put away the beers. And then she did a dance routine that would put most bargirls to shame.
Most of the folks left before I did, but some stragglers held on until midnight or so.

And so ended another day in paradise.

Facebook reminded me of how I was doing eleven years ago:

I’d say I’m doing better these days

Quora Q&A time:

Q: Americans who travelled to Vietnam, how was your experience and how did people treat you?

A: I was treated well on my visit to Saigon/HCMC last year. I did take a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels, and the tour guide seemed to gloat about all the creative booby traps the Viet Cong used to kill Americans. I, of course, bit my tongue and ignored the one-sided history (there was also a South Vietnamese military we were there to support being killed as well). Anyway, to the victors go the spoils, including framing the narrative in a manner of their own choosing.

Overall, I never felt any other animosity or hostility from the locals I interacted with. I asked an American expat living there if he had ever felt unwelcome because of the war. He told me he had asked an elderly Vietnamese man if he ever felt bad thoughts towards Americans. His response: “Why would I? We won.” That seems to be the prevailing attitude. Vietnam is moving forward, and its citizens are proud of all that has been accomplished.

I hope to revisit Vietnam someday and see more of the country.

Some lame attempts at humor:

What a dick!
I’m funny when you’re drunk

So, I’m going to do the SOB thing tonight. It’s been a few weeks, so it might seem fresh again. The venue is the Green Room so I’ll need to get there early to get a good seat. I’ll let you know how that goes tomorrow.

My out and about Tuesday

After the routine morning chores, my first order of business was a visit to immigration to renew my tourist visa for another sixty days. It was a little bit different experience this time because the office has moved to the 6th floor of the SM mall downtown. Getting there was bizarre. The mall doesn’t open until ten a.m., and the parking garage had a traffic cone blocking the entrance. My driver told the guard we were going to immigration, and he moved the cone and let us enter. The parking lot is on the 5th floor, so you’d think one floor up to get there. You would be wrong. The elevator attendant said we had to go down to the 3rd floor and catch a different elevator to the 6th floor. So, that’s what we did. It was weird walking through a closed mall to get to the other elevators. Anyway, the new immigration office is nice enough. I was the only customer, but it took longer than normal anyway. And they charged me 4100 pesos rather than the usual 3000. Like the good visitor that I am, I didn’t dare question why. No need to get deported over twenty bucks.

The next stop was the BPI ATM at Harbor Point Mall on SBMA. Except the machine wasn’t working, so we had to drive across the base to another ATM. This one worked, and my wallet was restocked with a week’s worth of cash, so we headed for the grocery shopping event at Royal. I spent “only” 12,000 this week, including some items for Swan’s pantry

Dropped Swan at home, unloaded the groceries, and took a nap. Swan messaged she was going to Subic, and I responded, “Enjoy.” Then she said she was going to Olongapo instead to shop for school supplies for the nieces. Well, I didn’t see any need to respond to that one. I figured she’d let me know when she was back home if she wanted to see me (Tuesday is supposedly “our day.” I didn’t hear from her by four p.m. (aka, beer o’clock), so I headed into town. I figured if she wanted to meet up, I’d catch a trike back to her place.

A good crowd at Sloppy Joe’s, and I sat at a table with Martin and Chris and shared some banter. Three beers later I was feeling a little hungry so I headed up the highway in search of grub. Was thinking I wanted something light, more of a snack, and different from my usual dinner fare. As I passed by Mugshots I saw their Tuesday special was a ham and cheese wrap–buy one and get a free beer! I was hooked, so I went in and ordered one.

Side one of the menu offerings…
…and side two.

I appreciated a limited menu, especially in a small bar environment like Mugshots. I’ve only had the chicken wings before, but they were quite tasty.

My ham and cheese tortilla wrap.
The meaty and cheesy innards. It was tasty enough, and the free beer helped it go down smoothly.

My waitress, April, was friendly and attractive, and earned herself a lady drink. I also bought an order of wings for the girls to share before I departed. It was a pleasant visit.

I considered visiting the Annex bar next, but my favorite seating was occupied by a biker club in full regalia–The Misfits if I recall correctly. Ron, the owner of Sit-n-Bull, was one of them and I called him out to the road shoulder where the motorcycles were parked and asked him if those movie scenes where the drunk guy knocks over one bike and the rest fall like dominos, resulting in the drunk getting his ass kicked, were accurate. He advised me not to find out. So I didn’t. Instead, I climbed the stairs to Cheap Charlies.

The view from my barstool.
And the view of the sun going down behind me.

After a couple of beers and a couple of lady drinks, I was ready to move on. The next (and last) stop for the evening was Wet Spot.

I took my regular seat and settled in for my nightcap beer. As is my custom, I bought my regular waitress a drink as well. And then came the big surprise of the night. A woman I hadn’t seen for months and months was suddenly standing right beside me, offering her greetings.

Welcome back, Aine. Nice to see you again.

Manager Brett sent me over a free beer, and I naturally provided liquid refreshments for Aine. We had a friendly chat, but I was also distracted by my phone. When I first arrived at Wet Spot, I had sent Swan a message telling her I was sorry we hadn’t been able to get together. She responded that she had wanted to do so, but I had never answered her message about her trip to Olongapo. WTF? I asked what I was supposed to say about that, and if she had wanted to see me, all she needed to do was ask, and I’d come running. Anyway, we went back and forth for a while, but the issue wasn’t really resolved until this morning’s coffee.

I went a little overboard at Wet Spot, spending over 1000 pesos on lady drinks. But it was a welcome-back celebration for Aine, so why not. Before catching a trike for home, I went next door to Sit-n-Bull for some take-out dessert.

Pecan pie is back in stock! Of course, I slathered that sweet goodness in vanilla ice cream and enjoyed a la mode!

Not bad for a Tuesday, eh? We had mostly clear skies this morning which allowed the Wednesday Walkers to head for the hills in Calapacuan (or was it Calapadayan?). Anyway, I’ll post the photos from that adventure tomorrow. Joy called in sick to work today, so there will be no feeding at Hideaway. But as fate would have it, my Whiskey Girl pal, Kim, messaged me that she is now working at Showgirls bar. The only time I’ve been to that bar was when it first opened. Let me see if I did a review. Why, yes I did! Tonight’s her first night, so I will welcome her with a lady drink and the brownies I would have taken to Hideaway.

It’s a crazy world.

Raindrops in the morning

Yesterday started out wet, which is surprising for this time of year. No worries, though; the raindrops weren’t falling on my head. I carried an umbrella on my morning walk. Because of the damp conditions, I opted out of my standard Thursday trek and improvised a paved stroll through barangay Matain on the Subic side of the river.

The way it looked from above. That green dot is my current residence (and where the hike commenced) the blue dot to the left is my future blue house.

Carrying an umbrella and using the phone camera don’t work well for me. I did manage two shots from the walk.

This lovely river view…
…and the serenity of the Subic bay. Pay no heed to the litter in the foreground; it goes with the territory.

I had a burger patty (with a cheese slice and ketchup) for breakfast. No lunch again, but I alleviated the hunger pangs with some walnuts and a cheese stick.

Sticking with the plan, so far, at least.

When bar o’clock rolled around, I made my way to It Doesn’t Matter and enjoyed my first gin and soda of the day. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I had another. Although skipping the lunch meal is a big part of my calorie reduction strategy, drinking on an empty stomach is not a great option (you tend to get drunk quicker). So, it was an easy decision to decide to find something for dinner. What and where were the questions I needed to resolve.

Maybe so, but all I’ve got at the moment is me. And I decided to treat myself like I’m somebody special since no one else does.

And there was my answer: the best food in town for the best person I can be–John’s Sushi and Steak was my destination. I hoofed it to the other side of town and considered the menu options. I love the sandwiches, but bread and fries are carbs I need to avoid (along with beer, of course). And then I thought, John has the best steaks in town; why not get one of those? Yeah, they’re pricey, but I’m worth it.

Turns out, John was running a promo. Now, twenty bucks still seems like a lot to me, but you only live once.
Dinner is served. It was delicious; what little of it there was. Of course, the marbled potatoes aren’t something I should eat, but I couldn’t resist trying a few anyway. Yum. And the coleslaw side was excellent as well.
Medium rare, very juicy, and very tender. The ad was right; I didn’t need a steak knife.

And now, what about dessert? Well, I had another SOB coupon to use. This one was good for all the local drinks you could consume in a consecutive three-hour period for only 500 pesos. I did the math and determined that I would need four gin and sodas to get my money’s worth. The three hours weren’t going to be a problem, but would I still be standing after sucking down so much hard liquor (I really am a beer man at heart)? Only one way to find out, and I decided to make my voyage of discovery at Whiskey Girl in the comforting company of my favorite waitress there, Jen. (Yeah, I sure do seem to have a lot of Gin/Gen/Jen in my life these days).

Four (or was it five?) drinks later, I was feeling no pain. I’d bought a slew of lady drinks for Jen, and she was happily snuggled up next to me on our cushioned bench along the wall. I was tempted to go the barfine route with her, but I’ll save that experience for a more sober time.

Heh. Maybe I’ve been right in my approach all along.

I’m kidding. I think. I guess I’m just in a que será, se​rá mode. Still chatting with Gen every day, and I expect we’ll be meeting up next week. She wants to watch me eat balut for the first time. We’ll see what happens after that. I’ve got six months to fill…

Sweetness and light

Yesterday’s Hash was our annual Candy Run. Santa Claus was the Hare and he led us through the backstreets of San Isidro and Barretto as we handed out candy and treats for the neighborhood children. It’s a special day and both fun and heartwarming.

Ready to roll. Rather than ride in the Hashmobile, I walked 40 minutes out to the starting point.
What has it got in those bageses? Chocolates, lots of chocolates!
Cum In My Basement (who lives in my basement) walked and waited with me for the others to arrive.
We had over 50 in attendance at this year’s event.
Here comes Santa Claus! Looks a lot like 18 Kilo Ass, doesn’t he? Hey, if the suit fits, wear it!
The Hash horde descends on the sleepy village.
Kinda scary in a way.
Under the watchful eye of Easter mountain.
Over the river…
…and through the mud.
Back down to Barretto.
On-Home was at the VFW.
Santa on the ice.
Me on the ice.
Who you callin’ naughty? Put ’em up, motherfucker!

Anyway, it was a good Hash even if I was in a shitty mood. Drank until they loaded the ice chests into the Hashmobile, then I walked across the street and drank some more at Cheap Charlies. Hey, whatever it takes to kill the pain, right? There was a full moon to keep me company. And some thirsty bargirls.

I was just talkin’ to the moon
Hopin’ someday soon that I’d be over
The memory of you
Too hard to hold

Went home drunk, but the sun came up this morning.

And it’s a brand new day.

Let’s see what it brings.

Earlier that day

In the preceding post, I told about my Friday night of darts at Alley Cats. This post covers what happened earlier that day. Lots of pictures from the hike to share, and I’ll get to those in just a bit. But first, I’ll briefly talk about my after hike activities.

This young woman came to visit me.

What can I say? She’s sweet and kind of innocent. Or at least inexperienced. I wouldn’t call her a starfish but she’s not all that interactive either. Cute as hell though. She stayed for an hour or so, then went home to her kids. I was satisfied physically but not emotionally. Not that I expected to be. I am trying to be more realistic these days and see things for what they are as opposed to what I’d like them to be. Maybe I’m just getting tired.

The hike with the Friday group was a good one. We did a reversal of Monday’s upcoming Hash trail (the Hare sent us a map), but of course, we did our own modifications. I somehow got separated from the group at one point, something that rarely happens to me, but we wound up reconnecting further up the trail. My favorite part was climbing up to a different part of Black Rock mountain. I really enjoyed the views from there. See for yourself:

A satellite’s eye view of our hike.
Our hardy group of hikers.
Two ups on the day. The first one started with these steps…
…which as usual seemed endless.
Sweetened the life of some children we encountered along the way.
Happy campers. I ran out of cookies before we finished the hike.
Coming down from the first climb…
It got a little tricky in places.
Safely back on solid ground.
That’s the Black Rock we normally climb. This time we circled around to the other side and climbed a different part of the mountain.
Let the climbing begin again.
Are we there yet?
Ah, okay, here we are.
What’s everybody looking at?
Nice view!
You can see Alta Vista from here on the other side of the valley.
It was a beautiful day.
Time to head back down.
Getting there.
Looking back up at Easter mountain from the flatlands.

A good day on trail. It’s easy to get sucked into the negative aspects of your life if you focus on the things you don’t have. Being surrounded by nature’s beauty is always a good reminder to me about how lucky I am to live here and to be healthy enough to get out and enjoy it.

Who needs love anyway?

20 years on: Remembering 9/11

We said we’d “Never Forget!” but I’m not so sure that’s true for many of my fellow Americans. But for today, at least, we’ll leave politics out of the remembrance of those who lost their lives as well as the heroes who gave their lives on that fateful day twenty years ago.

I was working at the Department of Education in Washington, DC on that beautiful September morning. I was having a meeting with my staff in the conference room. Someone mentioned a plane hitting the World Trade Center building in New York, but we assumed it was just a tragic accident (contact the personal injury lawyers to help you to get proper aid at the right time). During the meeting, the phone in my office kept ringing. I ignored it at first, but the persistent callbacks convinced me to interrupt my meeting. The caller was my then-wife, Carol, who worked for the Department of Justice. She asked if I’d heard the news–a plane had hit the Pentagon. And things started going crazy throughout the city.

We were locked down. Anyone leaving the building was not allowed back inside. Meanwhile, at the Justice Department, employees had been excused. Carol came to my workplace but they wouldn’t let her in, so I went outside to join her. Now what? We were commuters on the Virginia Railway Express, but all forms of public transportation had been shut down indefinitely. We made our way to the Holiday Inn near our train station and sat in the bar watching events unfold on television. A few hours later, a friend who lived in DC picked us up and drove us home to Stafford, Virginia. My daughter Hillary, who had joined the Army Reserve, was watching the news on TV and stated matter-of-factly “this means I’m going to be activated.” She was and did two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

Everything changed that day. On a personal level, I was jolted out of my former worldview regarding national security. I discovered new sources of information on the internet and was shocked to discover much of what the Washington Post had been feeding me was bullshit. Not so much in what they reported, but in the things they left out. It set my life on a new course, one that eventually led me to Korea to work for the U.S. Army as a civilian.

Over the years I had the opportunity to highlight the actions of two heroic firefighters. I want to continue that tradition by “saying their names” here today:

James Raymond Coyle.

See his story at the link above.

Samuel Oitice.

You are not forgotten.

Men and women like these exemplify the selflessness and sacrifice that has made America great. Hopefully, all those who lost their lives on that fateful day twenty years ago did not die in vain.

This song and the accompanying photographs are both a haunting remembrance and a fitting tribute to those who died that day. May they all rest in peace.

Now that’s lazy

I call Tuesday my lazy day, mainly because I take a day off from walking. I do my grocery shopping instead and any other things I need to get done around the house. Lately, I’ve been meeting up with Joy every other week and yesterday was her day.

Things have been going fairly well with her I suppose. She calls me her best friend and does those little things like messaging me periodically throughout the day to check-in and see how I’m doing. Actually, that gets a little irritating at times, but I understand that she’s sincerely trying to be sweet. There have been a couple of times where I sensed something was going on with her, but I didn’t let myself get sucked into whatever that drama was all about. Last week she asked for an “advance” on her allowance to buy milk and diapers for her daughter. It was only 500 pesos and she met me in Barretto to get it, so I don’t really have a problem with that unless it becomes a regular “emergency.”

Anyway, I was scheduled to meet Joy at noon and she arrived early. I appreciate that she doesn’t operate on “Filipina time.” As is our custom, I took her to lunch. This week we ate at The Pub. I had the French dip sandwich, Joy went with ramyeon. Food was good, but we are just not able to hold a meaningful conversation. Her English is weak and she doesn’t understand a lot of what I say. Oh well, no one is perfect.

After lunch, Joy came to my place. Usually, we get right down to the “boom-boom” business, but this time she had promised to give me a much-needed pedicure. I must say that I was impressed with the professional job she did on my overgrown toenails. As she worked on my feet I felt myself growing increasingly drowsy. When she was finished with the pedicure all I wanted to do was take a nap, so I told her I was too tired for sex this time. She seemed to take the news in stride and I handed her the standard 3500 pesos. To her credit, she tried to repay the 500 she had borrowed last week, but I told her to keep it as a tip for the pedicure.

Joy has sent me several messages now telling me how much she missed having sex with me and that she hopes we can get together and boom-boom before her menstruation starts. And she sent me this:

I asked her if she were hungry or horny. “Both!”

So there you have it. I’ve got a gal practically begging me for sex and I’m just too damn lazy to do anything about it. It’s like the world has been turned upside down! Well, Joy will just have to wait until her turn comes up again at the end of the month I suppose.

Tomorrow Judy is scheduled to come over and give me a “massage.” She needs to pay her electric bill.

Life is good!

It’s Father’s Day, beaches

Here’s wishing all you dad’s out there a day as good as you are. I hope that’s not bad!

My father’s father, 1935, Memphis, Tennessee.
My father, 1960, Garden Grove, California.
My father’s son, 1980, Prescott, Arizona.
This father’s son, 1985, Poteau, Oklahoma
Fathers and sons, 2003, Bahamas

And the wheel in the sky keeps on turning.

I treated myself to a father’s day lunch at Sit-n-Bull:

Shaved ham on a bun w/bbq sauce, coleslaw, and baked beans. As good as it looks!

After I finished eating, I sat with the owner, Ron, and had a nice long chat. Real interesting guy and probably the best conversation I’ve had in years. I really enjoyed that.

Got a surprise from my “friend with benefits” as well. Joy asked if I’d meet her at the 7/11 in Barretto so she could give me something. I agreed and she arrived by Jeepney, handed me her father’s day gift, thanked me for being her best friend, got back on a Jeepney going in the opposite direction, and went home.

She really is a sweet and thoughtful woman. I don’t think she is pretending.

I spent some time at the beach yesterday; perched as usual on my stool at Mango’s enjoying the view.

Quite a large crowd on the sand and in the water. I was the only non-Filipino around. I’m going to have to get used to this new normal I suppose.
I watched the sky do its magic as the sun went down.
And this is one of my favorite photographs ever. I was trying to take it with my phone camera in horizontal mode, but for some reason, it wouldn’t take. So, I turned my phone around and snapped it vertically. Meanwhile, a couple had walked into my frame and I thought might have messed things up. Instead, them walking hand-in-hand with the colorful backdrop really enhances the image.

What else? Well, I took one of those “political compass” tests to see where it said I stood. This one was a little different than the ones I’ve done in the past, the questions were much less cut and dried, apparently intended to help measure the “authoritarian/libertarian” spectrum along with the more tradition “left/right” positioning.

That seems pretty accurate. Give it a try if you are so inclined.

And that’s where things stand as of now.

Did you miss me?

What? You didn’t even know I was gone? Ouch!

Well, in case you missed it, the website went down sometime after I went to bed last night. Tried to log on this morning and got a message saying there was a “database connection error”. I’m not even sure what language that is. I received an email from a reader (thanks, Kevin) telling me he also was unable to access my blog, either from Korea or a VPN. So, at least I knew the problem wasn’t local.

I was trying to remember the name of my webpage hosting service so I went scrolling through my emails and found this one from HostGator sent a month ago:

Hi John,
In an ongoing effort to bring you the very best products and services, we will be upgrading all of our servers to PHP 7.4. In addition to improved data processing, which can boost your site’s speed and performance, you’ll also gain increased security. Newer versions of PHP have more frequent security updates to help protect your site against unwanted hacks or malware.
When will it happen?
At some point during the upgrade window — March 2, 2021 through March 7, 2021 — your account will be updated, and older versions of PHP will no longer be supported. You may experience a brief disruption in service during this time

Okay, well that explains it I figured, even if I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. I know my WordPress platform has been telling me to upgrade the PHP for several months, but obviously that was something HostGator had to do. Anyway, I went out and did my morning hike and when I got home, still no blog access. That didn’t seem like a “brief disruption in service” to me. So, I went and did what I should have done this morning and visited the HostGator help page, and selected the “live chat” option. Who wants dead chat, right?

In due course, I connect with Raj. He takes all my pertinent info and says he is checking on it. A few minutes later, he asks me some more questions (i.e. had I modified my website recently) and disappeared again. Then I get advised that a different person, also with an Indian-sounding name, was now going to assist me. He asked all the same questions that Raj had, then he too disappeared for a while. When he returned he told me to try and log into my website now, and voila, it worked! I tried to ask him what had gone wrong and if I could do something to prevent it in the future. The only response was that he had changed the e-password for the database. Whatever, it works, so I am satisfied.

When I did take a look at the blog dashboard, I noted that it was no longer warning me to update the PHP, so I assume HostGator had done that and in doing so triggered my problems. I have now updated to the latest version of WordPress (I wasn’t able to do so with the old PHP) and there are some changes in the interface I’ve noted while writing this post that I’m going to have to get used to.

Still, I’m glad to be back. I’ve got some catching up to do with y’all but now it is time for me to head out for darts. I’ll fill you in on all the excitement (I use that term loosely) tomorrow.

Thanks for dropping in!

Light up my life

December is upon us and you know what that means.

Oh shit, I forgot this is 2020. Never mind.

Well, one of my helpers still has the ol’ Christmas spirit:

The house is lit up like a Christmas tree…
And the gnomes that live out front year-round have magically transformed into elves…
Buddy and Lucky are wondering what kind of madness this is.

But of course, Jesus is the reason for the season:

I felt driven to say that.

Anyway, whatever your beliefs, here’s hoping we can all…

…Cum Together.

First out in the dart tourney yesterday, and the way I threw I deserved it. I have a singles league match this afternoon and hope I play better. My darts of late have been akin to a roller coaster ride.

Now it is time for my Wednesday Walkers hike. See you on the other side!

Corona Hash…

…with a side of water, please.

So, I attended the Angeles City Corona Hash outstation run yesterday out on the far side of Subic town. It turned out to be a bit of a fiasco but overall it was a good day. We encountered heavy rain on trail and the Hares got lost but otherwise no complaints. The rain did mostly stop by the time the circle commenced, so there was that to be thankful for.

Speaking of rain, it’s pouring down again this morning. Looks like our Subic anniversary Hash is going to be a messy one later today. Power went out a couple of hours ago, I saw the sparks flying down the street so it is probably a blown transformer. Not sure how long that will take to fix. I’m operating on battery power and my phone wifi hotspot for now. I reckon I better get these photos posted while I’ve still got juice.

The event was held in the area known as Fallon Falls.
As I mentioned yesterday, we had scouted the trail last week. Things change though. For example, the water was running higher and faster after all the recent rain. That made crossing the stream much dicier…

In fact, after the first crossing, Scott and I said “fuck this” and set about finding a different path.

We still had the cross the creek twice more, but nothing like we would have faced if we followed the course laid by the Hares. We did do one climb and it was muddy and slippery on both the up and the down. But I actually really enjoyed the path we took. Around 5K.
We wound up passing through a remote enclave of Aeta (native) people and it was interesting to see how they live. Very friendly and welcoming.
And it turns out that Aeta children like cookies too!
This carabao didn’t seem to mind us foreigners passing through his ‘hood either.
I don’t know what it is about some of these big old trees that I find so pleasing. They are like poetry I suppose.
This was my favorite stream crossing of the day. Didn’t even get my feet wet. Well, wetter anyway. I was already soaked by this point.
I was despairing that I wouldn’t find a discarded face mask to share here. In fact, hardly any of the locals we encountered we even wearing masks. And then, as if by magic, right as we completed our trail this one appeared on the road.
Scott and I enjoying a well-earned beer at the conclusion of the hike.
Preparing for the circle. It turns out the Corona Hashers do use ice in their ceremonies.
A Corona Hash shirt.
The back side. Of the shirt I mean.

So, I learned that the Corona Hash was formed because the leaders of the Angeles City Hash refused to reconvene until such time as this COVID hysteria has passed. So a group of like-minded members broke away and formed a new Hash group. I think with that context the shirt seems to be a subtle dig at their AC brethren.

Circle up!
Hares on the ice. Yeah, they lost the trail but I can’t rag on them much because it happened where I got lost myself last week.
A lot of the Corona Hashers are staying in town for our anniversary run today.

Today’s run should be interesting. Guenter is one of the Hares along with Simon. One long trail of 8K and one shorter version at 5K. Both require us to be trucked out to the starting point. That will be a miserable ride if the rain continues. Oh well, I’ll just suck it up and make the best of it I suppose.

I’ll let you know how it went tomorrow. Stay tuned!


I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

–Joyce Kilmer

Take the fifth

It’s certainly interesting how you can suddenly find yourself at the intersection of the unexpected and the unintended, not knowing which way to turn, and then enduring the consequences of your indecision. That was where I wound up yesterday.

I guess the first indication of trouble to come was Thursday night. My helper Gina, who is also friends with the ex, told me said ex was very distraught about something and maybe I should inquire as to her well-being. I was tired and a little drunk at this point so I went to bed instead. The next morning I did send the ex a message asking if she was alright. She responded affirmatively but then revealed that she was really upset with the female Hash group on Facebook. When she told me why I too was pissed off.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had an encounter with a drunk “Janey” on Wednesday night at Bar Celona. What I didn’t reveal, because it seemed insignificant at the time, was that “Laura”, one of Janey’s friends took a photo of us together. I recall being a little perturbed at the interruption of my beer enjoyment for no apparent reason, but Janey’s friend was insistent on capturing the moment.

You can see how happy I was about the interruption. I’m thinking, why does “Laura” want to take this photo so badly?

Well, come to find out Laura posted the photo in the Facebook group with some commentary mocking my ex. That was why she was upset. Seriously, who in the fuck does that, and for what motivation? To take pleasure in causing someone else pain? I honestly don’t get it and I thought the invasion of Janey’s privacy in such a fucked up manner ought to be brought to her attention.

At first, Janey shared my anger and indicated she wouldn’t have any future dealings with Laura. She came back to me later and said Laura had denied posting the photo and she had suggested maybe one of the other girls present had done so. Well, I’m no detective but the only photo taken that I knew of was taken by Laura and was on her phone. But whatever.

So, I go out and do my Friday morning group hike and we finished at Cheap Charlies for some lunch and beer. I get a message from Janey asking how the hike was, and then she brings up the photo issue again. I reiterated that I didn’t believe Laura’s denial but she could believe whatever she wanted. I said it seemed cruel and unnecessary that the ex had been subjected to mockery. I mean, she already knew that I was seeing Janey.

Oops.

Janey: “How does she know that?” Me: Because I told her. Janey: Why would you do that? Me: Because she asked and I wasn’t going to lie about it. Someone had already told her.

And then the shit hit the fan. I sat there in disbelief as message after angry message came up on my phone. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have acknowledged my “dating” with Janey. I get that she wanted to be discreet. After all, she does have a boyfriend. My bad. But Janey wouldn’t let it go at that. Instead, she attacked me on the most personal level: I had no character. I had betrayed her trust. I was a liar. She was a fool to have believed I had feelings for her. On and on she went. And then she said the words I had never wanted to hear: “And to think I almost broke up with my boyfriend for you!”

You know, I had backed off of the relationship with Janey specifically so she could find her own way about what to do with her boyfriend. From everything she has told me the guy is a complete loser. Treats her disrespectfully, is likely cheating on her, and may even be a pedophile (based on pictures she saw on his Facebook account). I didn’t want to be her second choice or fallback position. It was important to me that she figured out that she was better off without him. Not for me, but for her own good. Then I thought we would have a chance to see how things would work out for us as a couple. And until yesterday I thought she might be moving in that direction. But compare me unfavorably to her pathetic boyfriend? Perhaps they deserve each other.

Anyway, at that moment I think I realized it was over with her once and for all. I’d never seen her in attack mode like that and it wasn’t pretty. Or deserved in my opinion. So, someone who would turn on me like that is not the kind of person I would trust with my heart. It was a painful way to find out that aspect of her character, but I’m glad I know now.

I ended our conversation by telling her I don’t need the drama in my life. We wished each other well in the future and that was that.

So yeah, I shouldn’t have gotten involved with the ex’s issues with the Hash group. I thought I was doing Janey a favor by revealing the true nature of her friend Laura. Obviously, I should not have bothered. The ex told me she had blocked all the girls in the Hash group and that she would not be participating in any future Hashes. And then she told me “Janey is old and ugly”.

Well, it turns out she is ugly on the inside.

Give the devil his due

If there is one thing Uncle Sam excels at, it is collecting his debts. I was reminded of this fact when my daughter sent me a copy of a letter mailed to her address from the Department of the Treasury. It seems the powers that be in my homeland believe I owe them some money. That was shocking news to me since I made it a point to be debt free prior to commencing my second retirement from government service.

My initial reaction was the letter which threatens to withhold up to 25% of my pension check as of June 1st, was that this must be some kind of scam. For instance, the letter does not say to whom and how much I owe or why I’m suddenly indebted to something called “DMSOC-East” in Birmingham, Alabama. I wracked my brain throughout the day trying to figure out why I was being targeted. Of course my first thoughts were that it must be tax related, but I had sent the IRS a hefty $8000. dollar check last April paying my tax obligations in full. I also wondered why whatever the issue with my unknown delinquency may be, I had never been previously contacted to advise me of the mysterious debt. All the letter had to offer in answer to these questions was a 1-800 number I could call.

Well. The first thing I needed to do was to figure out just how in the fuck do I make a call to a toll-free number deep in the heart of Dixie? Once I had obtained some guidance in that regard I needed to wait until my night became working hours back in America the beautiful. On my second attempt (had to figure out how to do the +1 country code on my cell phone keypad) I got a recording with some options. I chose wrong apparently because the robot voice said they couldn’t help with that and immediately hung up. On my next try I was more diligent and chose the “other” option. Whereupon the voice said all agents were busy and would be busy for at least 10 minutes, but to hold the line or otherwise lose my place in the queue. Alrighty then.

In due course a human came on the line and the game was on! He needed to verify that I am who I say I am and after I satisfactorily answered a series of questions he asked me “how can I help you?” I responded please tell me what the heck is going on. Who do I owe and how much? I was advised that the debt was still with a private collection agency and I would have to call them for details. He was able to tell me that my indebtedness was to the Brian Allgood Army Hospital in Seoul, Korea.

Ah! Now I remembered. Just before departing Korea I had all of my prescriptions refilled. The normal process is that my insurance is billed and I’m on the hook for whatever amount is not covered. But for some reason I had never received an invoice for the unpaid balance. I had in fact been diligent about turning in a change of address to the Army Post Office but apparently nothing related to this bill ever got forwarded to my stateside address.

Well, at least I know now that the debt is legit. And I do take some pride in paying what I owe in life–unlike the socialists I’m not looking for a free ride. The agent on the phone was attempting to give me the contact info for the private collection agency and I told him not to bother. I’d prefer to just have the money deducted from the pension check in June. Much less hassle for me that way. The agent indicated there was no downside to my thinking in that regard so I thanked him for his time and we said our goodbyes.

And that constitutes the most excitement I’ve experienced in a good long while. And that is just about all the excitement I need or want. At least until April 15. Which reminds me, I’ve not heard back from my tax preparer. Damn it!

Homeward bound

And so it begins.

0400 here in Columbia I’ll be driving to Charlotte, dropping the rental car off, and if all goes well, catching my 7:30 flight to Atlanta. I’ll hang out there for awhile then make the long Atlanta to Seoul flight, arriving Thursday afternoon. Five hour layover in Seoul, then on to Clark/Angeles, arriving at 0200 on Friday.

Whew. Gonna be a LONG day!

Alright, on with it! See you on the other side of the world.

Back in Cola-town

An uneventful but scenic drive “home” yesterday. Winding things down here and mentally preparing for my long journey which will begin Wednesday morning in Charlotte and end Friday morning in Angeles City, Philippines. Makes me tired just thinking about it.

Speaking of being tired, I’m still not able to sleep through the night. I can’t blame jet lag at this point, I think it is all in my head. More on that another time.

So, since I was up with the sun, I did my laundry and started the packing process. Went out to see one of those “doc-in-the-box” to get refills for my nine(!) prescription meds. They actually had a doctor’s office in the local CVS pharmacy which was pretty convenient. The most I could get were 90 day supplies and the doctor just tapped them into the computer and sent them straight over to the pharmacy. When I went to pick them up though they had only filled them for 30 days. Anyway, once the doc gets back from lunch I’m told they will sort it all out. I’ll have to make another trip to CVS later.

I ordered a replacement for my credit card which expires in January. It came today while I was at the pharmacy. Since I wasn’t here to sign, I’ll have to make a post office run tomorrow. No big deal except I’m not sure which post office services this neighborhood. I’ll figure it out.

While I was waiting for the incorrect prescriptions I headed over to the local shopping complex for pasalubong (Tagalog, “[something] for when you welcome me”) is the Filipino tradition of travelers bringing gifts from their destination to people back home.[1] Pasalubong can be any gift or souvenir brought for family or friends after being away for a period of time.[2] It can also be any gift given by someone arriving from a distant place). I’ll need to pick up a few more items to carry back so as not to disappoint my hometown acquaintances.

And finally, I salvaged some books to carry back with me.

Yes, they are all poetry books. Balm for my wounded spirit which has taken a beating when I wandered down memory lane.

One more book is on it’s way from Amazon. Guaranteed delivery is scheduled for tomorrow. It will probably come when I’m at the post office trying to retrieve my credit card. Ah well.

In the ‘hood…

The day in pictures.

Great views here in the neighborhood. Not sure I’d call them divine, but they are heavenly….

From the back deck this morning. The day started cold and blustery…

But when I looked out my bedroom window after my afternoon nap, the sun was shining. So I decided to take a walk.

The street in front of the house…let’s go!

A little chilly out, but once I got moving it felt pleasant enough.

That ridge doesn’t look blue to me. Just sayin’

Someone is living large!

I hope they don’t take these views for granite…

Heading back to the house. Not a real long walk. Not sure if it was the altitude or just not used to the uphills, but I was huffing and puffing…

Kevin grilled up some tasty meat for dinner…was nice to have some tender beef again.

Lauren and Renee did a great job on all the other fixin’s…

The kid’s table…

and one for the grownups

My plate. Damn, that was some fine eating!

And now we are all just chillaxin’ on our final night in the high country.

In the mountains

The Blue Ridge mountains to be precise. A little town called Seven Devils near Banner Elk, North Carolina. Beautiful being up here with the family.

Interesting drive up here. Rained most of the way and then we hit fog once we gained some elevation. Also had an accident happen just a couple of car links ahead of me. The driver somehow hit the median and lost control, was spinning and bouncing around, pieces of the car flying about, then slid back into the highway backwards. I’m doing 60 mph and went into full avoidance mode, dodging him off to the right shoulder and successfully bypassing the wreckage. Scary shit!

Getting up to our “cabin” in the woods was on some steep, narrow and twisty highway, but damn, I can’t recall ever driving a more beautiful road. And it’s nice having everyone sharing time under one roof again. Let’s go to the pictures:

Told you it was foggy!

“It’s not smoke, it’s vapor!”
I actually thought we were in the Smoky Mountains. Granddaughter Gracyn schooled me on my erroneous geography. “It’s the Blue Ridge papa!”

Out of the fog and heading on up…

We are past peak, but there is still plenty of color in the trees…

The cabin is a 5 bedroom McMansion!

The requisite fireplace. It’s gas log which keeps things easy peasy…

The bar with a huge screen TV.

The living area…

Dining with a view…

Working in the kitchen…we had homemade pizza last night…

Downstairs basement features a pool table…

…Ping pong and darts and outside is a Jacuzzi…

I snagged the downstairs bedroom…

….featuring this big ass bathtub and walk in shower…

And four more bedrooms upstairs…

No idea what this thing is for…

Got a little snow last night…

Me and the kids keeping warm by the fire…

I was up with the sun this morning…

…enjoying the morning views…

A full day of hanging with the family is on tap. Hopefully it warms up some and I can get in a nice mountain hike.

More to come, stay tuned!

All Hallows Eve

A nice Halloween, certainly nothing like I’ve experienced in quite a few years. Spent it with son Kevin, his wife Lauren, and my sweet granddaughter Gracyn. Daughters Renee and Avery rounded it out making for a great family gathering.

Kevin and Lauren’s new house is really amazing. Great job guys!

Granddaughter Sydney is sweeter than a Tootsie Roll!

Let the trick or treating begin!

One house was giving out super sized candy bars…

I was impressed with how much many in the neighborhood were really into the holiday.

Free candy if you dare!

Nice costumes…

“I ain’t afraid of no ghost!”

Sydney shared her bounty with me. “I don’t like Goodbar anyway papa”

I wasn’t in costume but I was pleased my mailman uniform still fit after 40+ years.

And Avery had a good time enjoying adult beverages with her partner Rebecca…

Did I mention that Sydney is sweet, smart, and brutally honest?

It was a good time for sure. A little bittersweet because I was visited by Jee Yuen’s ghost. Again. Ah well.

A walk in the park

Yesterday I got up off my lazy ass and went for a hike.

I needed to try out my new Hashing shoes. If you wear new shoes to the Hash you are required to drink a beer–poured inside said shoe. I’m going to try and keep that from happening!

I lived in Columbia from 1986-1997, and again from 2011-2014 (most of the time anyway). Yesterday I realized that in all those years I had never actually visited this state park. I’m not sure why, I drove past a kazillion times…

Sesquicentennial Park was constructed in the late 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

I chose the Sandhills Trail for no other reason than it was the first trail head I encountered after parking my car. It was only 2 miles long (a loop) so I also did a separate nature trail later.

Let’s get started!

The Sandhills trail circles the lake…

There were just a few people in the park on this Tuesday afternoon and none of them were renting boats…

A flock of big ass geese were hanging out lakeside…

Well maintained and mostly flat trails…

And nice walkways to navigate over the wetlands…

I was up the proverbial creek when I took this photo!

Shadow prints…

It turned out to be a very pleasant walk.

The remains of the day

Let’s start with leftovers from yesterday.

Commenter Kevin Kim asked to see the fruit salad I made for the barn party. Here’s what remains.

If you want to see the sausage salad being made, you can check out step-by-step pics of a previous batch I made here.

I’m writing this at 0200 so I’m obviously still not sleeping through the night. I did check my Fitbit sleep stats and with the exception of my Wednesday travel day where I slept less than three hours, I’ve been getting my fairly normal five or six of sleep. They are just coming in bits and pieces lately. This too shall pass.

I received the hiking socks I ordered from Amazon today and had to laugh.

Made is South Korea! What are the odds?

That’s my story!

One of the things I’ve been doing while I’m not sleeping is getting a taste of some of the comfort foods I’ve been missing. Did the Waffle House breakfast, had a 5 Guys burger, and yesterday I went to Rush’s…

…And got my favorite wing fix on.

Honestly though, nothing has been quite as good as I remembered.

It was a beautiful day yesterday so I got my lazy ass out for a 1.5 hour walk around the neighborhood.

Ah, the peace and tranquility of a suburban stroll…

But seriously, my previous walks have been to shopping venues and this is not really a pedestrian friendly town. Hardly any sidewalks. So, I appreciated the quiet residential streets, and even the main road had those nice wide shoulders. It was really quite pleasant. Today I plan to visit a nearby state park–Sesquicentennial–which purportedly has some good long hiking trails (haha, I wasn’t much of a walker for all those years I lived here). Daughter Avery also reminded me that there are some nice walking paths along the Congaree riverside. At the least I should have some better pictures to post, right?

Still have some shopping to finish up, Halloween get together tomorrow night, and a weekend in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina are on tap.

Stay tuned!