Another mostly empty Tuesday, but why should I care? You do what you gotta do and be done with it. That’s fine and dandy with me. Here’s what I’m talking about:
Driver Danny picked us up (me, Swan, and helper Teri) as usual at 0830. Drove to SBMA (the old Navy base) and made my regular stop at the Harbor Point Mall BPI ATM where I do my weekly cash withdrawal. I inserted my card and entered my PIN, and a message appeared saying the machine could not dispense cash. Would I like to proceed? Nope. So, we moved to the other side of SBMA and another BPI branch. This one has three ATMs, so I figured my odds for a successful withdrawal were good. I usually make two separate 20,000 peso withdrawals (20,000 is the maximum allowed). The first machine dispensed my cash in 500 peso notes, and forty makes for a thick wallet. I tried the next machine, and it spit out twenty 1000 peso bills, so all was good.
Given that this BPI branch is very near the old Royal supermarket, I decided to do my weekly shopping there. This Royal is housed in the former base commissary building and isn’t as modern and nice as the new store. Still, I can sometimes find things here that, for some inexplicable reason, the new Royal doesn’t carry. The downside is that the older Royal is laid out completely differently, and I have to search for the items I desire. I found most of everything I needed, so it turned out fine. And here was a surprise:
My helper wanted some cabinet shelves under the sink, so we had some made Filipino-style. She had a worker friend buy a wooden pallet from a nearby scrapyard, tear it apart, and build these from the scraps:
Three hundred pesos for the materials, and seven hundred for the carpenter. Not bad!
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that Swan was meeting a friend at It Doesn’t Matter. I joined her there around four thirty but didn’t want to intrude on the girl talk, so I sat at another table with IDM owner Cliff. Another of Swan’s pals came by, and Cliff’s wife joined the party.
Swan asked me several times if there was somewhere else I wanted to go, but I told her just to relax and enjoy her time with friends. I was enjoying my beer at IDM as much as I would anywhere else. And when it was my turn to eat, guess what? I didn’t order Filipino food.
IDM recently hired my old dart league friend, Rica, to run their kitchen. She has had a great reputation since her time as the chef at Thumbstar and Oasis. I congratulated the owner on the excellent addition to his team. Bar food is usually okay for a drunken snack, but I’d be glad to have a meal at IDM now and then with Rica cooking.
We wound up spending the entire evening at IDM and passed on our normal nightcap, grabbing a trike home in the rain. And so ended a productive, if boring, day in the life. There is a change of pace on the horizon–I’ll be taking Swan to the beach town of San Narcisco tomorrow for an overnight stay at the Mope Resort.
The way-back memory machine carried me to1978 just after my recent move to Prescott, Arizona. I made the decision to leave California because even back then I knew I didn’t want to raise my kids there.
Here’s the latest illustration of the gender revolution:
I still haven’t gotten a clear answer to the simple question of whether these male-chromosome boxers were born with pussies or dicks. This is the best explanation I’ve found so far.
Today’s YouTube video from the Filipina Pea is quite different for her—she tells the heart-wrenching story of her life. As I’ve said before, she is probably my favorite vlogger, and hearing her talk about her personal journey makes me all the more impressed.
On to the humor:
I’ll do a morning post tomorrow before we hit the road. I finally got in to see Dr. DeLeon today, and it was mostly good news. More details on that to come. Not sure what’s on tap for the evening hours, but odds are good it will involve beer.
I’ll be taking Swan to the beach town of San Narcisco tomorrow for an overnight stay at the Mope Resort.
Is that pronounced “mope” or “moh-pey”?
It must be so hard on you.
Whoa—that’s a scene from the cult classic “Sleepaway Camp.” The freaky ending of that movie exists on YouTube.
Have fun on your trip!
Glad Dr Leon had good news for you, John – but be careful about the visceral fat around the stomach as that often leads to diabetes which can result in amputations.
I though Griff was a Weshman in a Liverpool shirt. You learn something new everyday.
I don’t think IDM existed when I was last there. is it beside where T-Rose is located? An afternoon beer can be annoying in T-Rose as they would not stop trying to play with me dick even though I wasn’t buying them drinks, the hussies.
Good to know you are getting away for the weekend but haven’t you been there before? Nothing wrong with a bit of familiarity but I think you like hiking more than laying in resorts. Have you ever climbed Pinatubo? The first time I did it was arranged by Beeway Travel on Perimeter Road but, once I got the lay of the land, the next time I caught a bus to Saint Juluanna and negotiated the rest of the way to the top. I believe Mt Arayat can be climbed also but I have not climbed it. Have you? Or how about a weekend away in deepest Bataan. You could get a bus to Balanga which is a plesant enough town. Stay the night there and then head to Mareveles for the night and then catch the ferry over to Manila. I know you hate Manila but one night is not going to kill you. The restaurants and bars at the end of the baywalk up by the CCP can be nice for a man and has lady of an afternoon and evening.
Must rush becsuse I am going to protest tonight but I won’t be getting up to any tomfoolery owing to the current state of my undercarriage.
Greetings, Ted. Yes, the one negative data point was my glucose/FBS reading of 120 (normal is 76-100). That means I’m still firmly in the pre-diabetes category. So, there is work to be done in that regard. My mother was diabetic, and I don’t want to go down that road.
I only know Griff travels to the UK when he goes home…he may indeed be Welsh. I’ve never bet with him.
IDM is located in the old T-Rose location. It is nothing like the old bar. The gals are friendly, but only in waitress mode–no hanky-panky allowed.
Yes, I’ve visited Mope a couple of times and spent the night once. We are just doing an overnighter for a change of scenery and to satisfy Swan’s lust for hanging out at the beach. We are going to do a candy walk through the local neighborhoods, but no real hiking. I haven’t done Pinatubo before, but I heard it is a real ass-kicker. I’ve only done a one-day trip to Bataan and liked it. I need to go and explore more. Thanks for the tip!
What are you protesting?
Nope, it’s Mope. I’ll try to ask about the origin of that name during my visit.
I don’t recall seeing “Sleepaway Camp.” I’ll try to check out that ending, at least.