Welp, I spread my wings last night and stayed out in the bars until 10 p.m. Didn’t make it to bed until 11:00. How ’bout them apples? I don’t think this will become a new lifestyle norm; I slept in until six this morning and it has put me off my kilter all day. Didn’t even do my Saturday stroll.

I attended the SOB dance competition last night, but instead of going home when it was over at eight, I went next door to Wet Spot and stayed for the Aftermath proceedings. Basically, you get raffle drinks with every drink purchase, and they do three drawings between 8:30 and 10:00. I remained until the end, hoping I’d be drawn for the “Joker Jackpot” (you have to pick the joker from a deck of cards displayed on a board). The pot is up to 40,000 pesos now, so that’s a big prize. Alas, I wasn’t drawn, and the person who was picked the wrong card. It carries over to next week now, but I won’t be in attendance. I’m going out of town next weekend to attend Hashes in La Union and Angeles City.

My Friday morning began with the group hike. We took a Jeepney ride to the far side of Subic town and did a nice mostly flat walk from there. Getting into the Jeepney proved challenging as my knee gave way on both steps up. I instinctively shouted, “Oh shit!” when the knee collapsed, and once inside, the Filipino passengers were all staring at me. I apologized for my foul language and got some nods and understanding smiles in return.

As we began the hike, the leg felt numb (I had taken aspirin before departing, so there was little pain), and after a couple of kilometers, there was weakness, and I feared another collapse. I took my trekking pole out of the backpack and used it as a cane to take some pressure off the leg. I considered bailing out but ultimately decided I needed to accept that this could be my standard state of being, so I pushed on. And after a while, it began to feel better. My other issue was breathing–I was huffing and puffing on a relatively easy hike, but that too may just be the vestiges of COPD and old age. Anyway, I survived and felt a sense of accomplishment for sticking it out. So, I was happy about that.

Here are some photos from the hike (Scott took most of these as I was otherwise preoccupied with balance and breathing):

I’m glad I made it through another day. Let’s see what this one brings.