More of the same around here, but at least I got a little creative with the headline. Or stupid. Either way, it’s a fair description of my night.

I did not make it out to Baloy Beach yesterday. I was headed in that direction, then decided to detour to see if I could find “mama” and give her some food money. She wasn’t in the usual places though, and since I was already there I said “fuck it” and crossed the street to Mango’s. I don’t visit there as frequently as I used to, but the waitress still treated me like a regular. I took my usual beachside seat and settled in to drink some beers. Quite a few folks were out enjoying the sea and sand, almost all of them Filipino. The new normal I suppose. When hungry time came, I ordered up my favorite–grilled pork chops. Then the tables got full, the service got slow, and I got up and left.

As I was making my way up the highway I saw “mama” and gave her her allowance. She responded with her usual “I love you, papa” and all was right and normal in my world.

I still wasn’t quite ready to go home, so I popped into Outback. Instead of the indoor pub, I sat out at the poolside bar which also features a nice bay view. Enjoyed a couple of more brews and watched the sun go down.

I’m still dealing with those itching sensations. I’m working hard at learning to resist the urge to scratch which only seems to exacerbate the itch. Easier said than done, especially when I’m lying in bed. The worst is my hands, and my automatic response is to rub vigorously between the fingers. That feels good while I’m doing it, but leaves the hand sore and throbbing afterward. So, I managed to ignore the itch in my hand and the bottom of my foot by sending my mind to its happy place and eventually falling asleep. And then I dreamed about giving my hand a good and satisfying rubbing (hmm, that sounds unintentionally lewd), then I wake up, and I’ll be damned if I hadn’t been rubbing those hands for real in my sleep. Couldn’t go back to sleep with a throbbing hand, so I got up and went downstairs for some of this:

So, that was my night. Joy arrived at the appointed time to accompany me on my morning walk. I’ll admit I was a little surprised and somewhat impressed with her initiative. I do enjoy some company on the trail and have fantasized about having a female companion who sincerely desires to share in my “hobby.” I decided to forego a mountain climb for her virgin hike but did undertake a good long two-hour trek. I was feeling it towards the end and she admitted her feet were tired as well.

I know Joy must have been exhausted because when we reached the highway I asked if she wanted to visit the Jollibee across the street. She said, “no, I want to go back home.” Wow. When a Filipina declines some Jollibee, you know she must be out of it. I gave her Jeepney fare and a thousand pesos for her efforts. I did appreciate her joining me.

Once Joy arrived back at her place she sent me this photo:

It will be interesting to see if she volunteers to join me in the future.

I got an email from my soon-to-be new landlord reminding me that I needed to pay two months’ deposit and the first and last month’s rent before I could move in on the first. That’s 140,000 pesos or $2963.00 at the current exchange rate. So, I opened up my Western Union app to see how to go about wiring money into the specified bank account. It turned out to be a very simple process. Received the confirmation and thought I was good to go. Then came home from the hike and had an email saying I hadn’t completed the transaction. What the hell? So, I opened up the link to see what I’d missed and wala (nothing). I messed around a while and wound up sending the money a second time. Oops. Went back to cancel that transaction and got a message saying that it couldn’t be reversed. Are you shitting me? Well, fuck that. I went to my bank account and transferred the money out of checking and into savings. There’s enough in checking for the first transaction, but not the second. We’ll see what happens next.

And that’s how my day has gone so far. Going to shower up and try and make it out to Baloy this afternoon. Or not. It Doesn’t Matter.