Yesterday’s experience was more Filipino style than usual. Here’s how it went down:

As I mentioned in the previous post, on the way to Royal, we stopped at the new hospital in Barretto to sign in to see the doctor at two p.m.

Things went fine at Royal. They even had Coke Zero available this week. Woot!

I went home for some rest and blogging, then we had a trike come to the house at !:30 to take us back to the Unicare Hospital for my two-o’clock “appointment.” I was first on the list, so I figured the wait wouldn’t be too long as I plopped down on a chair outside the doctor’s office. It wasn’t. A few minutes before two, the receptionist came out to tell me that the doctor wouldn’t be in today after all. I’ve experienced doctors here being an hour or two late, but this was my first no-show.

Now what? I briefly considered trying the emergency room but figured that wouldn’t do me any good. I needed a consultation with a pulmonary specialist, not ER treatment. So, we scheduled an appointment with a different doctor for today.

We exited the hospital, and I was in a foul mood and on the opposite side of town, away from all the familiar places. Almost directly across the highway was the Inflatable Island Resort. I knew they had a restaurant and given my limited options, decided to check it out. I was hoping for a nice lunch and beach bar experience. It didn’t turn out that way.

Unlike Kon Tiki, you can not enter the resort without paying the standard 250 peso per head entrance fee.

Oh, and the service sucked as well. Definitely the worst dining experience in Barretto. You’ve been warned.

Everyone agreed that my taking a night off to stay home and rest was a good plan, so we got a trike back to Alta Vista. After a nap, I felt surprisingly good, the best I’ve felt in several days. I headed up to The Rite Spot to celebrate. I set up the speaker, opened my Spotify app, and prepared to listen to some of my favorite tunes. Except Spotify had a message saying I needed to update my billing. Since signing up for the premium plan, the 150 peso monthly fee has been charged to my Globe mobile phone bill. Apparently, that is no longer an option, and when I looked for other payment methods, all that was offered was GCash. I don’t use GCash and have no desire to do so. I tried to set it up so I could pay through Swan’s GCash, but that was a no-go because we have different phone numbers. Nope, there are no credit card options either. I finally said fuck it and let Spotify lose a customer. I’ll look into doing YouTube Premium for my future music-listening needs.

And then there was The Trial Of Billy Jack, the third in the series. Almost three hours of badness I won’t bother recounting here. The Wikipedia take linked above tells you all you need to know about this waste of time. The reviews Wiki cites are devastating and spot on. Pure left-wing propaganda, which is eerily similar to what is taking place in today’s overheated political environment. And yes, back in the 70s, I would have believed the crap Tom Laughlin was pushing in this film. It is included in the Fifty Worst Films Of All Time list.

Before I went to bed, I checked my blood oxygen level and was surprised to see that I was at 97%. When I awoke at midnight and rechecked it, I was at 96%. This morning, I was once more at 97%. I haven’t seen numbers like that since I began using the oximeter. For the first time in days, I felt strong enough to attempt the dog walk, and by golly, I got through it without a problem.

This morning, I visited pulmonary specialist Dr. Ana DeLeon and was impressed on multiple levels. I will talk more about that in tomorrow’s post, but I’ve got a couple of new meds to try and some tests she wants me to undergo. Bottom line, I am now glad yesterday’s doctor flaked out because my comfort level with Dr. DeLeon is very high. She has my trust and confidence already.

Hopefully, I’m finally on the road to recovery.

In today’s YouTube video, the Filipina Pea talks about poverty in the Philippines and the horrific impacts inflation is having on the already destitute. Sometimes you don’t realize how blessed you are until you see how so many less fortunate are forced to live.

You’ll need a good dose of humor after watching that video. Try these:

I’m more confident than ever that I’ll be back tomorrow. I’m going to walk back into town soon to test my lungs. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to hydrate once I get there.