Life here in the Philippines is, for the most part, pleasant and comfortable. This is not to say that there are not frustrations and inconveniences. These exist wherever you might choose to live in the world. The key to maintaining a happy or at least a healthy state of mind is learning to deal with the bullshit you will inevitably encounter in a positive way. If that’s not possible you hopefully can avoid letting irritations become powerful enough to impact your day-to-day level of satisfaction. I’m probably still a work in progress in that regard, but I do have my mantra: Deep breath, relax, accept the Filpino way. It helps!
One peeve I encounter quite frequently is the “out of stock” syndrome. I just don’t get how the stores can consistently fail to order goods and products before they run out. The larger stores here do have computerized point of sale systems. Back in the States, this triggers an “oh, we’ve sold half our stock of X, time to re-order. Here that never seems to happen. I bought an electric toothbrush last year. Finding replacement brush heads is a nightmare. I mean, it makes sense that if you sell the one you would carry the other. “Out of stock, sir” is the only response I get. My big grocery store has been out of staples I use frequently, like shredded cheese and tortillas, for weeks now. No point in asking when or if ever they’ll appear on the shelves again. It’s like playing the lottery I guess.
Anyway, this rant was triggered by the absence of something that hits particularly close to home for me–my beloved San Miguel Zero beer. I got the “out of stock” BS at Queen Victoria a couple of weeks ago. Fine, you don’t want my business I’ll go somewhere else. And then it happened at Cheap Charlies last weekend. What the hell? If Zero is so popular you are selling out, order more and in larger quantities. Again, I just told them I’d drink somewhere else. And then last night I go to Alley Cats to play darts and you guessed it, no Zero! Well, fuck. I stuck around and played, drinking San Mig Light, but wasn’t happy about it. I couldn’t get a clear answer on whether the problem is with the brewery or the distributor. I do believe the Alley Cats folks when they say it was not a lack of effort on their part, it’s just not available.
Oh well. I’ll survive. SML is what I used to drink back in Korea. It’s higher in calories and higher in alcohol so I have to pace myself when I drink it in order to avoid getting drunker than I want to be. Yeah, life is tough, I know.
Funny thing is, as much as I like to drink I really don’t like being around drunks. I’m talking about the slurring words, unsteady on your feet, loud and boisterous, kind of drunk. I am very rarely in that state and always admonish myself the following day if I go too far. That maybe happens twice a year or so. I like catching a nice beer buzz, but I’m good at knowing when to say when it’s enough. I see guys in the bar who get close to falling down drunk nearly every night. I do my best to avoid them because I find them very annoying.
Take Pierre for example. A Swede who spends a few months a year here. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him sober, and I’ve seen him pretty early in the day (my policy is not to drink before 5:00, with rare exceptions). Anyway, I have no idea why a drunk man who can barely stand would sign up for a dart tourney. And only the Gods can say why it was my fate to draw him as my partner. I was not happy about it, but that’s the luck of the draw for you.
So, I resolved to do my best, try to have fun, and take comfort in the fact that it would be an early night. Pierre, as expected, was all over the board (and frequently off the board) but he occasionally had some lucky shots too. I actually played surprisingly well for a guy who never practices (and was forced to drink SML instead of Zero). We actually made it to the winner’s bracket finals before being dispatched by Steve, the Englishman who doesn’t drink, and his partner Jo. We lost the next match in the loser’s bracket as well and went home with third place money. Not bad considering.
Now if I could just find some motivation to practice some. Ah, motivation is out of stock you say? Never mind then. It’s all good.
I’m too low for zero
I’m on a losing streak
I got myself in a bad patch lately
I can’t seem to get much sleep
I’m too low for zero
I wind up counting sheep
Nothing seems to make much sense
It’s all just Greek to me
Here in Korea, I tend to think there’s a specific form of Murphy’s Law called “everything I like tends to disappear.” If the local grocery is stocking a particular cheese or deli cut of meat that I like, I can guarantee it’ll be gone in a few weeks. I feel almost as if my liking the item is what’s causing it to disappear, as if I labor under some sort of curse. The problem certainly appears with the consistency of a curse because it’s true: pretty much everything I like will ultimately disappear.
Ah, now I remember: Jack Bauer from “24” is the victim of a similar curse: all his friends and loved ones die around him over eight or nine seasons.
Good luck figuring out your supply problem. How much of this can be solved by ordering via Amazon?
Would absolutely love it if that Swedish guy was called Stefan. Then you’d have Steve, the Englishman who doesn’t drink and Stefan, the Swede who’s always drunk.
Kev, yeah the more you want/need it the less likely you’ll find it. Or so it seems. When something does appear back on the shelves, I’ll stock up with more than I need. Everyone probably does that which might be why they are always out. Oh well. No, I haven’t done the Amazon thing yet. I may have to break down and go that route. Or do an “empty suitcase” run to the USA.
Dan, that would have a nice symmetry for sure. It’s weird, I know two guys from Sweden named Pierre. And no Stefan. Or Gustav for that matter. Go figure.