As mentioned in my previous post, I made a rare appearance at the weekly RSL meeting yesterday. Despite being a member, it was only the second time I’ve attended this year. My reason is simple: the 2 pm start doesn’t work well with my routine-controlled lifestyle. That said, I do enjoy the gathering, especially when there is a Joker Jackpot worth 101,000 pesos (about two thousand US) waiting to be won. So, yeah, I had a selfish motivation for going yesterday, but in my defense, the proceeds are used for charity projects. Next month, there will be a medical mission providing services to an expected 400 children in San Marcelino.
The RSL is an Australian organization, similar to the American VFW. Unlike the VFW, everyone is allowed to join, regardless of nationality or veteran status. Most of the faces in attendance were familiar, although I guess that’s not surprising for our little town.
The artwork photograph above our table really caught my eye.
So, about those raffles. The main event tickets were 100 pesos each, or 6 for 500 pesos. In addition to the Joker Jackpot, there were drawings for various other prizes, ranging from meats, bottles of booze, and beer coupons for various bars. The way the Joker Jackpot works is if your ticket is drawn, you pick one of 52 cards on the board. If you choose the Joker, you win. If not, the pot is increased for the drawing the following week. So, after many weeks with no winners, the pot grows large and the number of cards to choose from is substantially reduced, increasing your chances of winning significantly. That combination brings out the seldom-attenders like me for some early-afternoon fun.
Each main event raffle participant is limited to a maximum of twelve tickets (1000 pesos). So, I bought twelve tickets in my name and twelve more in Swan’s. There are two other raffles: a 50-50 drawing (winner gets half the pot) and a “big spender” drawing (winner also gets half, with no limit on the number of tickets you can buy). So, I spent the maximum 200 pesos on the 50-50 and another 500 pesos for the big spender. I’ll save you from doing the math: I invested 2700 pesos in the RSL drawings. Again, win or lose, it’s for a good cause, so no regrets. Oh, and they sell beer cards that get you four beers for 250 pesos. That’s such a bargain, I felt compelled to buy two.
So, the raffle begins with the prizes, and one of my tickets was drawn.
Alas, I was not drawn for the Joker Jackpot. The guy who was picked failed to find the Joker. So, next week’s pot will be even larger, and now there are only five cards left to choose from. Sadly, I won’t be able to participate because I’ll be enjoying my adventure in Siargao Island covering the following two Tuesdays. Odds are slim that a winner won’t be picked in my absence.
Oh, well. I didn’t get drawn for the 50-50 pot either. The last drawing of the afternoon was for the “big spender” pot. And, drum roll please, my number was picked! I received my share of the pot, a sweet 4500 pesos, which put me up 1800 pesos for the day (not counting the 500 pesos I spent on beer). Thank you, RSL!
The RSL tradition is to hold a bar crawl at the conclusion of the meeting. First stop yesterday was the Outback Billabong Bar, and our group, including Swan’s sister and niece, joined in.
The second bar on the crawl was Whiskey Girl, a bar on my “no go” list, so I didn’t. Instead, Swan and her kin joined me at the Outback Pool/Beach bar.
We had us some dinner (fish and chips for me), then reconvened with Jeff and Davina at Gold Bar. After some good music, nice vibes, and more beer, we loaded into Jeff’s car and cruised on home to Bryce Street in Alta Vista.
I deem it another fine day.
This anti-smoking poster made me think of someone:
The upcoming Corona Hash trail this week features this interesting climb:
Moving on to September 2015 in the LTG archives, and in this post, I talk about the last car I’ll ever own, my commute to the last job I’ll ever work, and a good day of darts that I’ll never experience again.
Today’s YouTube video is a two-minute comedy I posted on Facebook twelve years ago. It’s still funny today and also reminds me of why Western men come to the Philippines to find love. Well, shit. Another video that won’t embed for some reason. Go ahead and click this link, I think you’ll like it. UPDATE: Fixed the embed issue. I think.
Here is some more funny business:
And there you have it, another day, another post.
What the hell, now the music video won’t embed either. I’m guessing it has something to do with the malware cleanup. But damn it, I want you to see my videos without clicking a link. I’ll work on it. In the meantime, here you go: Lucky Man by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.
re: “They Shall Not Grow Old”
So that’s where that comes from. Remember this?
Despite being a member, it was only the second time I’ve attended this year.
Spot the error!
re: that tall, ladder-like stairway
That wouldn’t bother me as long as there were handrails to hold on to. You got a thing about heights?
@Kevin – good movie.
Re: video
Well, I think that there is another reason guys come to the Philippines looking for love and it has to do with the fact that the wallet somehow looks much exponentially bigger than it does in the States. LOL
On a completely different note, Thailand recently began cracking down on visa runs.
>Thailand has tightened enforcement on visa runs, giving immigration officers broad discretion to refuse entry to travelers who show patterns of repeated tourist entries without securing a proper long-stay visa. Digital nomads, long-term tourists, retirees, and frequent visitors relying on border hops are most affected.
One article I read mentioned that this was something that all SEA countries were looking at. Any rumblings that the PI is looking to change things?
Ya! No malware notice this time and your site loaded right away. Doubt I could do that Subic hike either with my decaying 81 year old body. Now I’m off to the gym to pick up heavy stuff and put it back down.
Terry, Thanks for the update. Hopefully, the malware issues have finally been resolved. Being 81 is quite the accomplishment on its own…being 81 and going to the gym seems like a superpower. Well done!
Brian, it is like that time I asked a Filipina what the first thing was that attracted her to me. She blushed and said, “Well, to be honest, it was the bulge in your pants.” I smiled and looked proudly at my crotch. She said, “No, not that one,” and pointed at my wallet.
I’ve heard about that visa situation in Thailand and how some long-term visitors are getting screwed. Nothing like that is going on here, at least not yet. They are actually making it easier to get the retirement visa (lowered age). Whether they will make it harder for 8-year tourists like me remains to be seen. I hope not!
Kevin, I remember it now, and it was nice to re-read your review. I still haven’t seen it, though I’d like to.
Sorry, I can’t spot the error in that sentence. Help a friend out, please.
Yeah, I get a little wobbly at altitude. I can do a rickety bridge when the fall won’t hurt me, but high above the river makes me just wade across.
We did this so recently, and it’s already dropped out of memory. Probably because it never took in the first place. The wonders of alcohol. And no, not old age. There are plenty of sharp oldsters out there. So—one more time:
Despite being a member, it was only the second time I’ve attended this year.
“Despite being a member” is a modifier. Ideally, the modifier modifies the subject of the sentence (or main clause), but in your sentence, the subject is “it.” So “it” is “a member”? Basically the modifier has nothing to modify—it’s been left dangling. As a result, we call this error a “dangling modifier.” I’ll use the example I used before:
As a child, French was difficult. (“French” is a “child”?)
Possible corrections:
As a child, I had trouble learning French.
As a child, I found learning French to be difficult.
Learning French was difficult for me when I was a child.
When I was a child, learning French was difficult for me.
(etc.)
As for your sentence… how would you correct that? Show me at least two ways.
Kevin, sorry to leave you dangling…
How about: Despite being an RSL member, I’ve only attended twice this year.
Or maybe: It was only the second time I’ve attended this year, despite being a member.
At least I got the commas right, right?
The first sentence looks good. The second sentence merely switches phrases around and commits the same error. The modifier now comes at the end, and “it” is still the clause’s subject. Maybe turn the modifier into a clause (and toss the comma) to avoid the problem completely:
It was only the second time I’ve attended this year despite the fact that I’m not a member.
I think we’ve found a blind spot with dangling modifiers. Keep a special eye out for them. Remember the modifier always modifies the subject of your main clause.
WRONG: Crouched and ready to pounce, the mice feared the cat’s “death from above” maneuver.
RIGHT: Crouched and ready to pounce, the cat sowed fear among the mice with its “death from above” maneuver.
WRONG: Displayed all over the brick walls of the alley, I sprayed my artistic graffiti.
RIGHT: Displayed all over the brick walls of the alley, the graffiti I’d sprayed leaped out at passersby.
See more here.
My bad:
It was only the second time I’ve attended this year despite the fact that I’m a member.
I’m getting as senile as you! Proofread, Kevin, you idiot!
@John
LOL Hadn’t heard that joke before about the bulge in your pants. 🙂
Re: visa
I think you are probably okay. You mentioned that other than being a pain in the ass to get, you meet all criteria for a retirement visa, so if push comes to shove, I suppose you will just have to jump through all of the hoops to get it done.
In Thailand, they are cracking down on the people who do a one day visa run, etc. Either fly out or more common is to cross the border into Laos, Cambodia, etc. and come right back in to Thailand. A lot of the retirees could pivot to a retirement visa, for example, but easier to do the visa runs. Those that cant are probably in pretty dire straits economically. I think the digital nomads and remote workers will be impacted the most. No different from the US. You can’t come to work in the US on a tourist visa.
If you are not a contractor and actually working for a company (and the company doesn’t know you are remote in country X), it can cause huge tax issues for the company.
As long as visa rules are clearly spelled out, then I have no problem with it.
Brian, I tried to jump through those retirement visa hoops when I first arrived here in the PI and finally said, fuck it, and went the tourist visa route. People I know since then have used an agent and had no problems. So, if push comes to shove, I’ll go that route.
I’ve read some horror stories from Thailand about guys making that visa run and being denied re-entry. What a nightmare. The tourist visa here is pretty straightforward, 30 days free on arrival. Then a 29-day extension. After that, you can renew every 60 days for a fee and keep doing so for three years, then you have to leave the country. When you return, the process starts over. They just raised the price for a 60-day extension from 3000 to 4000. Oh well, that’s the price you pay for a life in “paradise.”
Kevin, that blind spot does lead to some dangling conversations, that’s for sure. Anyway, I see what you are saying now, but I can’t promise I will tomorrow.
I read the post you linked this morning and saw in the comments that mistakes like mine are both stupid and offensive. My sincere apologies!