I never saw such a place! Uncle Cho’s entreaty to come inside for a taste of his sausage was ignored however…

So here are some random photos from my so-called life this week…

Attended the Change of Command ceremony for the Korean Service Corps commander…

I’d worked closely with the outgoing commander on a couple of cases this year. He was appreciative enough to call out our office as having done a “fine job” during his speech…

I’m a sucker for pomp and circumstance…

My fellow office mates who attended the event…

My commie friend Choonae. Not surprisingly, there is next to nothing we agree on politically. She is vehemently opposed to THAAD deployment and posted on facebook that she “hates the U.S. Army”. I took some offense to that, noting that over 54,000 young Americans had sacrificed their lives to give her the freedom to hate the U.S. Army. She did reassure that it was the Army she hated not the people who work there. When I pressed her as to why she was opposed to a purely defensive anti-ballistic missile deployment, she said it makes China angry and that China is more important to Korea than the USA. I laughed and told her that that makes sense. Korea has been China’s bitch throughout history…

Not sure why I even bother to stay engaged…

I guess I just can’t help caring…

Thank God for chemistry though…

Thursday night we did a farewell event for my Army buddy Steve who will be departing Korea for his next assignment soon. We drank, we ate, and then we drank a little more. Got him back on base before the 0100 curfew so it’s all good. I was floored when I got home.

Fortunately I had the foresight to take Friday off. Despite the stifling heat, I spent some time on Namsan…

Objects in the photo are more distant than they appear…

One step at a time gets the job done…

And I came back for more today…

Tonight I’ll be changing things up by attending a dinner party at the Cassady’s house.  The Randolph’s and Rago’s will also be there.  It’s been quite some time since I’ve received such an invite to a couple’s centric event.  I guess the failure of my marriage makes folks uncomfortable.  Hell, it makes ME uncomfortable!  Anyway, I’m bringing banana pudding.

And now you know everything I do.

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying
When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone
I have become comfortably numb.

No, not that rack…

…this one! Baby back ribs for supper tonight baby! And lunchee tomorrow…

In other news, my kids are busy dismantling my American life.  Yard sale scheduled for August 6.  And meanwhile on Craigslist:

Listed at less than half of what I paid, who knows what the market will bear.

I just need to be done with it.  It’s a sad reminder of what was, what could have been, and what will never be.

And that as they say “is life”.

Haven’t seen the sun in two damn days but that didn’t stop me.

With my head in the clouds and the rain on my back…

…Saturday’s objective was achieved.

The city below me.

No rain today at least which made the river walk quite pleasant.

The obligatory shot of the oddly familiar bridge.

I actually went the opposite direction this morning. Crossed the Han at the Banpo bridge and walked to this one.

Looking back on where I’ve been. Doing that a lot of late it seems.

Walked back through Seoul Forest and exited through “the 6th Gate”. Good to know.

I did manage to avoid getting into any “real shit” this weekend…

Played singles league dart matches Friday night (won 9-7) and last night (winning 10-6). Another match on tap for this afternoon.

After darts last night I walked on over to Grand Ole Opry for my country music fix.  Got home in fair condition, although I was technically floored.  By choice though, so I don’t think you can hold that one against me.

Today’s weigh in has me at 214.2, down 1.3 pounds from last week and an even 55 pounds lost overall.  Well, 55 isn’t an even number, but you know what I mean.

Lost the belly (mostly) and the wife. Only sad about the one though.

Speaking of the belly, a friend was telling my about mesotherapy.  Apparently, you get these injections into the fatty parts of your body and it supposedly breaks down the fat cells like magic.  My friend swears by it.  I was thinking that may be the answer for me, but the more I read about it and some of the side effects I’m like “meh, I’ll just keep doing it the old fashioned way.”  We’ll see.

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don’t matter to me
‘Cause I’m a thousand miles from nowhere
And there’s no place I want to be

I got heartaches in my pocket
I got echoes in my head
And all that I keep hearing
Are the cruel, cruel things that you said

And so ends another weekend.

Got floored on Friday night.  And again on Saturday night. What’s up with that?

Still had the energy to climb a mountain though…

You gotta do what you gotta do…

By the time I got to the top I was drenched…

Much more pleasant on my way back down. A shady trail on a hot summer’s day is like the ice in your tea.

Drank hard on Saturday night, mostly at the Grand Ole Opry.  But I was up early this morning figuring on beating the heat.  No dice.  I was a sweaty mess long before reaching the riverside.

The return walk brought me to the oddly familiar Dongjak bridge…

And at the top of the stairs leading up from the river walk, I discovered a pretty nice cafe featuring excellent river views…

So I took advantage of the opportunity and re-hydrated with a refreshing “citrus tea”.

Got home and did some chores.  Then took a nap.  Then headed out for my season opening Seoul Sunday Singles League dart match.

15-1. I’d call that a fair start to the season.

Played at Shenanigans where the friendly staff did their usual fine job at getting me inebriated.

Had a little incident in the bar tonight with some rude drunks with British accents.  They were being dickish all night but we did our best to ignore them.  One of the dickheads was obviously looking for trouble, but us regulars outnumbered them and nipped that shit in the bud.  Well, until the biggest dick among them started harassing the bar staff.  Alex, my dart opponent today, is a big guy.  And when the jerk started running off at the mouth with bartender Sonya, Alex politely asked the punk to leave the bar.  And by politely I mean physically removed him.  Just outside the door (and at the top of the stairs) the drunk guy started mouthing off to Alex.  Not a good move.  Alex picked him up by the throat and held him firmly against the wall.  It was pretty funny in a way, because the guy’s tongue was hanging out of his mouth like a cartoon character.  I told him “dude, you better just walk down those stairs or else you are liable to be flying down them.”  About this time one of the asshole’s comrades tried to join the fray.  Me and another John blocked him from getting through the door.  A little pushing and shoving was as physical as it got for me.  I guess even drunks have a sense of self-preservation, because they all exited the scene without further incident.  And justice prevails in Itaewon!

What else?  Well, I had a pretty good walking week.

Except for Tuesday when the rains *ahem* put a damper on things.

And I walked my ass off today as well. Sure do wish I could walk my belly off…

Tried a new crockpot recipe today.

Pork chops. Tasty and moist, but a little bland for my liking. Next time I’ll have to get creative with some seasonings…

My strawberry-banana smoothie for dessert was most excellent however…

Scale was kind to me today.  Weighed in at 215.5.  Down 1.8 pounds from last week and 53.7 overall.

I’m down to a 36″ waist and I have the new wardrobe to prove it.

Who knew dieting could be so expensive?

Why did I call this post “Landslide”?  Well, it was the last song to pop up on my playlist as I finished my walk this morning.  It suits my mood.  Maybe you’ll enjoy it too…

I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
Till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

So, Facebook has this feature where they take a post you made at some point in your FB history and repost it so you can “see your memories”.  Mine invariably feature a smiling picture of Jee Yeun.  Thanks FB, but I can remember well enough on my own.

And today that story I didn’t tell about the Chinese gal on Friday night took a strange turn. Here’s what happened.  Qian (pronounced “Chen” as far as I can tell) has been known to frequent Shenanigans now and again.  I met her there several months ago.  I guess the general consensus is she’s a little crazy, as in whacked.  She earned that reputation because apparently one night she sat in the bar crying.  For hours and hours.  I wasn’t there that night, but I did observe her crying once and I asked her what was wrong.  She said “nothing, I’m happy”.  Alrighty then.

I’ve chatted with her a bit.  Her spoken English isn’t so good, so there wasn’t a whole lot to talk about.  She was looking for an English tutor so I put her in touch with my nephew.  Supposedly he’ll start working with her next month.  Qian found me on Kakao and one day out of the blue started messaging me all about her problems with a guy she likes.  No idea why people come to me for relationship advice, unless they plan to do the opposite of what I say.  I’m a four time loser after all.

And then on Friday she sent a message asking me if I’d like to meet up in Haebangchon at the “V” club.  Never had been there but she said they have live music and darts.  It sounded like a good change of pace from my usual routine and so I said “sure, why not?”

We were supposed to meet a 9:00 and I got there a few minutes early.  As usual, I was by far the oldest person in the bar.  She sent a message at 9 saying she’d arrive at 9:30.  She wound up getting there at 10:00.  Luckily, a guy I know from work came in and we had a very nice chat which passed the time.

So, I ordered Qian a drink and she left the bar and sat down at a table near the stage.  I said my goodbyes to my friend and went over and joined her.  The live music was really more of an open mike kinda thing.  But both of the performers were quite talented and engaged the audience in banter.  It was pretty enjoyable actually.

Shortly before midnight the guys put their guitars away.  I asked Qian what she wanted to do next and she told me she needed to go home (she lives in Hongdae).  I said okay and went to pay the tab and take a leak.  When I returned I asked her if she was ready and she told me she was going to stay awhile longer.  The implication being pretty clear she meant without me to cramp her style.  I’d noticed her eyeing one of the younger bucks in the joint.  So I said goodnight and left.  Yes, I thought it was pretty rude but then again I had no romantic expectations either.  I decided on my walk home that would be the last time I shared my company with her.  I figured the feeling was probably mutual so I didn’t expect to hear from her again.

And then today during my lunchtime sojourn I get a disconcerting Kakao message:

“John, it is Qian.  Maybe the police will ask you things about me. You just tell the truth and it is ok.”

My reaction was WTF?  So I asked “why would the police ask me about you?”

She responded: “I had some trouble with some guy.  But I’m ok”

I told her she needs to be more careful and she said “And I have to say what I did last Friday.  So I was in the bar with you. And they just wrote your number.  It is not related to you.  Anyway, sorry.”

As I was stewing over what that meant, she sends another message “you were there till you leave later.  They may ask you this.”

Well, that’s true of course.  I was there until I left.  Alone.

I asked her if she could tell me what happened.  She just said “it is ok.  I’m ok.  Sorry, don’t worry”.

So I have no idea what is going on.  Did she get raped?  Did she steal from some guy?  Something else totally off the wall?  Who knows.

I guess I’ll just count myself lucky that I left when I did.  I think this gal is nothing but trouble, and trouble is not what I’m looking for.

I’m going to be sticking around working and living in Korea for another year anyway.  That should carry us through the move to Pyeongteak sometime next summer.  Then we’ll see what happens.  I’m still in a day-to-day mode for now.

To the extent I do look forward my intentions are to bank some cash so I’ll be prepared for whatever opportunity life might throw my way.  I’m on track to achieve financial independence from creditors by, well, Independence Day.

Things could be worse.

From Friday’s lunchtime jaunt around the Army base.

Part of the diet regimen involves walking PAST the food court rather than into it…

General Walton Walker suggested I go “thatta way”…

A tribute to the 8th Army service members who gave their lives in defense of freedom during the war…

And a tribute to the ROKs and KATUSA’s who stand shoulder to shoulder with US Forces to maintain peace on the peninsula today…

And this guy is apparently defending the Yongsan Garrison fire station…

Yesterday I was around Namsan.

The hardest part of the hike was walking in the opposite direction. Beer is the creator of the belly that must be destroyed. Metaphorically speaking.

These are likely the only two lips I’ll be enjoying…

Yesterday’s big discovery was this actual drive-in theater. Will wonders never cease?

I think they are saying “Dokdo is our land!”

Dissent will not be tolerated.

I’m a sucker for Korean women with a heart of stone. In my experience that is just about all of them…

Damn, but that was a lot of steps…

Now there’s a sentiment that’s hard to argue with…

…and so I didn’t…

In non-walk related news, I enjoyed helping Sung-Ha celebrate her 21st birthday. She’ll be leaving for Toronto next month for school. Gonna miss her.

And now it is time to say