I’m glad I won’t have to witness the upcoming disaster first hand.
Meanwhile, here is the latest dispatch from my life in paradise:
I wanted to show him the scenes he’d seen over the years, as posted on LTG. So we spent some time on The Bitch trail.
And later in the afternoon we jumped into the deep end of the pool. Well, I know I was in way over my head at the Alaska Club 9-Ball pool tournament anyway.
I generally enjoy competing in this weekly tournament because it provides a nice change of pace from my usual bar time. The only downside is that things move slowly. The tournament starts at 6:30. I was drawn to play in the opening match—and lost. My turn in the loser’s bracket didn’t come until almost 8:30. I won that game, then didn’t play again for over an hour. I lost and was eliminated, but it was almost 10 p.m. before I left.
Brian played until 11:30 before he was knocked out of the tournament. He was told that sometimes things don’t finish until much later than that. Yikes. Making it until 9 p.m. is a struggle for me these days. We’ll see how my pool “career” plays out—and whether I can handle those long hours.
And that’s the way yesterday played itself out.
Via Facebook memories, a couple of more photos from my trip to Cambodia four years ago:
I have to say, my trek through the LTG archives is becoming more and more of a chore. I spent an hour going through the May 2023 posts and didn’t find much of anything worth sharing in “The Story of My Life.” Yeah, it’s all the same old, same old: hikes in the morning and bars at night. Hmm, not much has changed, has it? Well, at least I have a girlfriend now, so there’s that. Anyway, here’s a nothing-special post from the last day of May.
Today’s YouTube video shares the ten ultimate albums for the soundtrack of retirement. I actually owned seven of them at one time or another—my record collection stayed behind when I moved to Korea. I’m sure they melted when ex-wife #3’s house burned down. Oh, well, I have the memories at least.
I’ve gotta do what I gotta do:
I’ve been subjecting Brian to my lame humor in person. He’s flying out to Thailand this afternoon. Safe travels!
It’s 1978 and the Mercury is at the top of the charts. God save the Queen!
America is so screwed right now…..
…until 2028 when we have a sane, intelligent, compassionate Dem president again. Can’t wait.
Ricky, you mean like that Biden guy? Damn, you are as stupid as he is.
Re: Morning hike
The hike encapsulated all that is part of PI hiking. Some uphills on stone steps, uphills on sandbags, uphills on dirt trails (and downhills on all of the same). Head high thatch grass, views from the top, a variety of housing and neighborhoods, etc. Fun hike!!
Re: Pool tournament
It was fun to do, but Jerry needs to somehow streamline it. They were still playing after I left, but the energy level had dropped pretty substantially. Oh well, in the grand scheme of things, a minor hiccup.
I have been reading your stuff since like 2015 or so, not too long, and I go away for months or longer and then come back, usually when drinking, and I am always happy to see Swan. Just wanted to say that. Thanks for all you do. We met years ago in Korea though I don’t expect you would ever remember and I am still chugging along in this dumpster fire of a world so I wouldn’t admit it. Keep at it!
Thanks for reading, Iforget. Remind me of when we met in Korea. I bet it was in a bar in Itaewon. Were you a darts player? Where are you living these days?
Brian, glad you enjoyed our hike. Nothing special really, but still nice. Next time you are here we’ll do the Kalaklan Ridge. Hard, but worth it.
I agree the tourney takes too long to finish. Even if I was good enough to be winning, I’d have to bail out early. I’ll see if you Jerry might give a single leg format a chance. Although, I guess from a bar owner’s perspective, the longer we stay, the more we spend.