Down in the dumps yesterday so I decided to take the LONG walk to the old Navy base. It’s about an hour each way but the challenge is there isn’t much shoulder so you have to be prepared to dodge Jeepneys, trucks, buses, and trikes. It’s actually a pain in the ass which is why I rarely attempt it. Sunday morning is probably the only time I’m brave enough for the hike since traffic is relatively lighter then.
A rare break in the traffic afforded the opportunity to take this deceptive photograph….
But it was nice to also get some new vistas, like this shot of half moon bay….
Anyway I really need to work on getting my shit together. Spending too many meaningless hours in the bars drinking beer. Yeah, it’s what I do to have some semblance of a social life. I really do have the type of personality that needs a significant other to fulfill me. Geez, I hate how that sounds. But I don’t want to get drawn into the dating a bargirl lifestyle. I’m going to have to suck it up I suppose and start trolling the dating websites again. That’s a whole other kind of depressing activity though. I just got to find a way to climb out of this rut.
Meanwhile, I continue on with the simple things that bring me pleasure. Like the crockpot chili con carne I cooked up:
It was surprisingly good, if I do say so myself. I like to use Rotel diced tomatoes with chilies but I couldn’t find any at the Royal grocery store. They did have a can of “Mexican style” sliced tomatoes, which worked out just fine. Very flavorful.
And finally, I would like to offer up a heartfelt apology to all of my faithful readers here at LTG:
It doesn’t get much worse than this, does it?
Tom Waits is quite a character. If I’m not mistaken, he’s the guy who gave us an over-the-top version of Renfield, Dracula’s assistant, in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” from the 1990s. One of the most memorable performances from that movie. The guy’s a nut.
Chili looks awesome. Half-moon Bay looks awesome. You may be down in the dumps, but this sure seems like an awesome life to me. Hope you regain your good cheer, and soon.
Provide the how and I’ll send you some rotel.
My parents are set to retire in the next 1-2 years and they’re both, understandably, excited by the idea. I’m a bit concerned, though.
In addition to his current nursing job, my dad plays golf and watches TV. That’s it. Those are his main waking activities in life. My stepmom reads books and goes to the occasional craft fair or theater performance, but like my father, she doesn’t have a particularly dynamic social life. They’re also not the types to build bird houses, cultivate a garden, or take up with the local Elks Lodge.
I was raised (by the people I described above, obviously) with the underlying idea that a job was something you had to have but that you probably wouldn’t enjoy. This was never stated explicitly, but the attitude was modeled and insinuated everyday. On Monday, you count down the days until Friday. You always count down the days until your next vacation. The ultimate countdown, of course, was to retirement. The attitude was always, “How many more days until I don’t have to do whatever it is I’m doing today?”
I was well into my thirties before I realized that jobs and work, even if they are tedious and unpleasant, provide something us with something more than just money. For most of us, they are our primary social connection with the world outside of our own heads. Even more, they’re the chief means by which we are useful and of value to other people, day in and day out. The income provided by all this is necessary (my landlord has yet to accept my job’s psychic benefits in exchange for housing), but that money is more important as a signal that someone valued our role in their lives more than they valued that money. These relationships strike me as being of fundamental importance to our place in the world.
And none of this even gets into the benefits of structure and healthy stress that a job can add to our life. We’re trained – by media, our parents, etc. – to desire a life of leisure, but I’m increasingly not sure that leisure does us a whole lot of good.
None of the above is really a commentary on your situation. I’ve merely followed your site for a long time (at a guess, since 2005 or so) and have been really interested to follow your transition into retirement as I watch my parents prepare for a similar phase in their lives. So keep up the writing – it’s helpful as I think through these things.
May I suggest using some of the land around your house to start a small garden. It is quite a time consuming hobby and enjoyable as well. I wouldn’t worry too much about the girlfriend thing. The right person will pop up. Your right though that bars are not the place to be looking. Must be some people in Subic belonging to hobby clubs etc. When in Manila it always takes me a couple of weeks to realize that there is more then sitting at a bar each night, its fun but you get tired of it quickly.
I really appreciate the feedback guys. Heartfelt and caring comments like these make the blogging experience so much more meaningful.