One of the challenges of being in a relationship is that it throws all of your routines a little out of kilter. I feel like an old dog learning new tricks sometimes.
Wednesdays are already challenging. Had a nice, but tough, hike in the morning (photos to follow at the end of this post), then home to prepare for darts. No time for my usual nap. Then I hoofed it out to Baloy Beach where I participated in a disappointing 11-2 victory over our opponent from Johan’s. Why would I be disappointed in a lopsided win? Well, I played poorly against a weak team and one of those losses was on me. And we lost the beer round (team game) resulting in us providing a beer chit for our opponents rather than them buying one for us. No one wants to lose the beer round! Ever.
It was the first day on the new job at Hideaway bar for Joy and Jen, the former waitresses from Finger Monkeys. I wrote about their escape from their oppressive boss here. I had promised them I would come by and help them get started on the right foot with their new employer. So, after darts, I caught a trike to take me to the far side of Barretto. The bar wasn’t busy when I got there, but they said there was a large group that had just left. I bought them each a couple of lady drinks. Then Eric, another former customer of the wretched Finger Monkey bar, came in to join the celebration.
I needed to head out early because I knew Pearl would be waiting for me at her place. She was. I was going to take her out to eat, but we decided to just order off her menu. Man, I got some honey garlic chicken wings that were fantastic! Then Pearl wanted me to sing to her. At the karaoke joint next door. Wasn’t really in the mood, but how could I say no? I did okay on my old standards, Patsy Cline’s Crazy and the Bee Gees classic I Started A Joke. It was all downhill from there. Pearl didn’t object when I told her I’d had enough after a total of four or five songs.
It was a little after 9 p.m. and I was fading fast. Pearl wasn’t ready to leave her work yet, so I told her I’d leave the gate and door unlocked at my place if she wanted to join me later. I kept my phone by the bed just in case the upstairs neighbor locked the gate while I was sleeping. Around 11, my phone rings, and I hear Pearl say “I’m here”. I jump out of bed, go outside, open the gate (which was still unlocked), and no Pearl. WTF? I came back in and texted where are you? A few minutes later her mom pulls up and drops her off. I guess she had called me from the guard shack. Oh well, it worked out okay. We had a blissful sleep.
I got up at my usual 4:30, and Pearl joined me at 6:00 or so.
We had a mediocre breakfast at a local hotel, then I told her I needed to go to Subic to get some cash from the BPI ATM. Pearl lives on the far side of Subic and said she needed to get something at her place. I suggested we go about our business and meet up later, but she said she only needed a few minutes so I agreed to meet her at Waltermart. That’s about a twenty-minute walk from the ATM. I arrived and let her know I was there. No response. I walked around the parking lot. Over and over and over. Forty minutes later I get a message that she would be arriving soon and told me to wait inside the mall for her. So, I walked the mall for another 30 minutes until she finally arrived. I was a little perturbed and she apologized profusely, so I let it go. What else am I going to do about it?
She’s at her business now. I told her I needed to go home and shower. I also needed to have some time to do a post for the blog, but I didn’t mention that part. Keeping LTG a secret from her for now at least. Hey, this is where I go to vent, right? I’m baking some brownies to take to her food place and I’m also bringing some fruit salad. Yeah, I’m going to keep her waiting a while. It’s just the kind of guy I am.
The photos for our hike yesterday:
Alright, I’ve kept sweet Pearl waiting long enough. I’ll hike down to her food stand, then we will go hang out on Baloy Beach for the afternoon.
Ain’t love grand?
Eternally shirtless Almoranus is looking a mite less ripped and a bit more man-booby and paunchy these days. Too much beer?
If Pearl’s major flaw is that she’s occasionally late—just like other women—I’d say that’s not tragic. Annoying, but not tragic. Keep in mind that, in many ways, she’s still just a little girl, and little girls are prone to doing goofy things. That’s the price you pay, as an older man, when you date someone that young: you put up with the foibles of youth. She’ll learn eventually, and I’m sure you’ll communicate your expectations and boundaries civilly.
As for keeping the blog a secret… I won’t mind if you stop blogging about Pearl so that you can “bury” your Pearl-related posts under several successive posts and then reveal your blog to her some days later. I doubt she’ll troll your archives in an attempt to find posts about herself, and even if she does, it’s not as though you’ve talked shit about her. Keeping the blog a secret can become toxic, especially if too much time passes. And if you’re serious about this relationship, I think you ought to allow Pearl a say re: whether and to what degree she will appear on your blog. This is an issue to resolve sooner rather than later; if too much time goes by, and then she discovers your blog on her own, she might, at the very least, become uncomfortable (especially if you write, even vaguely, about what goes on under the covers).
I know you want to keep the blog private precisely because it’s your place to vent—I get that. But if you’re allowing this woman into your life, then you’re already committed to ceding some of your personal space. Letting her know about the blog is a gesture of trust. (Of course, letting her know about the blog carries the risk that she might tell others about your blog, so that’s worth considering as well.)
Anyway, you do you. The above is only my opinion. I got burned once when a Korean lady I was going out with discovered some stuff I’d written on my blog about her; she misinterpreted what I’d written (it wasn’t malicious, but she thought it was), and she imperiously demanded that I take the post in question down. I did, lamely. I sometimes think that, had I told her about the blog beforehand, things might’ve been different. I don’t know. Suffice it to say that, should I ever get a funny little honey of my own again, I’ll will not blog anything about her without her express permission.
Anyway, I think more communication and openness is better than less. You might no longer be able to vent about Pearl on the blog once she knows about your site, or it may turn out that she’s like my boss and coworkers, all of whom know about my main blog but never bother to read it because they’re just not into blog-reading. I’m sure you’ll figure out what works best for you.
Agree with Kevin about keeping this blog a ” secret”. Women get offened pretty easy sometimes over silly stuff. Might want to mention it passing as one of your many hobbies.
Yeah, Almoranus just returned from Germany where he apparently didn’t maintain his exercise routine. He’s back on trail and in the gym now, so I expect he’ll be ripping it again soon.
I appreciate you guys sharing your thoughts on keeping the blog secret. My initial thinking is to be more circumspect in what I say and to maybe post less frequently concerning her. I also like the idea of a casual mentioning that I blog at some point. She probably wouldn’t ask for the URL anyway. But yeah, you are both right, it will be worse for me if she discovers it on her own (or someone rats me out) if I say nothing.
It’s funny, there was a time I actually solicited readership, posting links to the blog regularly on my Facebook page. Now that I’ve gone almost full diary mode, I appreciate the freedom to write with a sense of anonymity. Of course, that’s a false sense given how I often encounter blog readers who me through unrelated Google searches.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
It’s easy to find u Mr…just type in your name on any search engine your LTG appears.
Yeah, and people searching for info on Barretto seem to come across my blog too…