A tropical depression, that is. Or typhoon if you will, although since it made landfall the storm became depressed or something and is weaker now.
What a difference a day makes!
Ulysses iS packing quite the punch, I’ll Grant you that. *ahem*
Pretty much a direct hit.
The sound of the wind’s fury woke me up around 0230. I figured the power grid wouldn’t withstand it for long and sure enough, things went dark shortly thereafter. I’m writing this post on battery power and my phone’s hotspot. Get it while you can!
It seems like only yesterday the sun was shining and I was out hiking and enthusiastically embracing the beauty of mother nature. Oh wait, that’s was yesterday. Mother nature can be a fickle bitch, can’t she?
Here’s the Hash trail we scouted yesterday. I’m thinking about what potential impact all this rain will have on our best laid plans.
It will be muddier and more slippery that’s for sure and one section may or may not be under water. Won’t know for sure until we go back out on Sunday to mark the trail. Oh well, we Hash rain or shine!
Me and my fellow scouts, Jim and Scott. Scott is the co-Hare on Monday, Jim will be working the logistics of getting the beer and ice chests to the community center On-Home…This should work…A little bungle in the jungle.My weekly tree shot.Valley view.I actually thought about this “house” during the windy night and wondered how (or if) it was holding up in the storm.A group of cookie lovers!What a cutie! I don’t mean YOU, Jim!Our second climb of the day included these steps…Scott tripped and fell twice during the hike but here is one of him on his feet!“Man, that would make a great post!”
Hope you enjoyed it.
Looks like I’m gonna be stuck inside all day with no power. If the rain lets up a little I might chance going out in search of a hotel room. Otherwise I’ll just tough it out I suppose. Oh, I have found several spots where the wind blown water is invading my house. Including the puddle under my desk that is soaking my feet as I write this. It could always be worse. I’m sure some of my less fortunate neighbors have lost the roof or walls in their shanty shacks.
I’ll count my blessings.
Walking through forests of palm tree apartments Scoff at the monkeys who live in their dark tents Down by the waterhole Drunk every Friday Eating their nuts Saving their raisins for Sunday Lions and tigers Who wait in the shadows They’re fast but they’re lazy, and sleep in green meadows
Let’s bungle in the jungle Well, that’s all right by me I’m a tiger when I want love But I’m a snake if we disagree
When almost every morning begins like this it’s bound to go downhill from there. Still, it’s more good than bad overall. I’ll take it as it comes.
So, I was in for a big surprise while grocery shopping at Royal yesterday–they actually got a shipment of frozen foods in stock. I mean, it may not seem like a big deal but it has been about six months now that I’ve gone without some of the things I enjoy. Like this:
Yeah, I could learn to make this kind of stuff on my own but I’m a lazy fuck. Of course, on my current low-carb kick, I won’t be enjoying these soon but it is comforting knowing they are safely in my freezer should the need arise.And frozen fruit! I still indulge in a smoothie now and again and it’s hard to get fresh berries around here. Not impossible, but expensive.
Best of all I was able to secure everything I need for my Thanksgiving feast:
Well, no fruit salad but I was able to pull that together last year. I’m kinda kidding, I’ll be keeping my eyes out for a frozen turkey so I can do the real thing.
I played darts in the afternoon. Drew another weak partner but at least she wasn’t as irritatingly bad as the one I had last Sunday. I wound up doing something though that I don’t recall having ever done before–missed on purpose. So, here’s the deal. The tourney started late because one of the girls had a birthday. Big turnout too, so that meant lots of time between games. We lost in the first round and it was probably an hour before we played again. In our second match, we were tied 1-1 and playing cricket, a game that requires more skill than 501 where every dart counts. We were getting beat pretty badly and then I hit some bulls to catch us up on points and close the gap. Eventually, it came down to whoever hits the next bull wins. I didn’t really try and win. Now, in my defense, I didn’t want to wait around to play later in a match I knew we couldn’t win. And since I’d done all the heavy lifting to get us in a position to win I thought it only fair that my partner should throw that dart. She didn’t and we lost. I got some looks from my opponents and my partner. Maybe it was unsporting of me. I did buy my partner a drink which is worth more than we were going to win anyway. In retrospect, I wish I’d just played my best and let the darts decide. Oh well.
After darts, I went to Sit-n-Bull and had me a salad for dinner.
Roast chicken. As good as it looks.
I’m pretty much not engaging in this whole political debate about Trump and the vote. It seems quite apparent from a distance that fraud played a part. If it was decisive fraud I hope the courts sort that out. My disgust continues to be directed at the ignorance of the fools who think that Biden will protect their interests or America’s. Unlike the liberals who post shit to goad and taunt, I keep my feelings mostly to myself. I did post this though:
Not surprisingly, it did cause several liberal heads to explode. Well, that’s the problem I guess. The sheep don’t know they are sheep. God help us all.
Once again, I was in bed by 8 p.m. last night. I guess that’s my new normal these days. Although the mayor just announced that starting Friday curfew will be pushed back to 10:30 giving us peasants an hour of our lives back every day. Not sure I’ll be adjusting my schedule though.
I may be a lazy bastard but I still dream of being a working man. Almost every night in fact. And this morning Facebook shared this memory from my work life four years ago:
It was good while it lasted but I honestly have no regrets about moving on. My time to live a new life had arrived and here I am living it as best as I am able.
Today is Veterans Day back in the USA and I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to all the brave men and women who have served their nation. Thank you!
And since 1973 they have all been volunteers.
Today I went out with Jim and Scott to scout potential trails for next week’s Hash. I think we’ve got something both a little different and perhaps more challenging than folks will be expecting from us oldtimers. More to come on that.
Also, next week’s On-Home will be at the community center here in Alta Vista. I guess I’m hosting that event as well. It’s a great facility but we’ve never used it for the Hash before. Should be interesting.
I was really surprised how nice this photo I took of the community center came out. I love how Easter mountain is looming in the background.The pool is looking good for any Hashers wanting to swim after their hike. Some of the Filipinas are making food to sell to the hungry Hashers in attendance. I’m donating a pot of my chili to that effort.I reckon this ballroom will suffice for the circle unless we elect to do it poolside…
And there you have a snapshot from this thing I call my life. It could certainly be much worse. Hell, it has been! I’m not dwelling so much on the things I don’t have that might make it better so maybe that helps me appreciate things the way they are all the more.
No real complaints about yesterday’s Hash trail. A good 6K hike with one moderate climb, nice weather, and no falls or injury. Just the way I like it!
Our path as seen from above…We headed out from Alta Vista which was certainly convenient for me.On-On!Bum Burgler bringing up the rear. No pun intended.Speaking of the rear, I kept my eye on What’s Up Doc for a goodly portion of the trek.You cross this bridge to get to the other side.At least the Hares were honest about it this time.Passing by Easter mountain.There are only so many ways to get to the Hunter Jo on-home from Barretto. I appreciated the fact that the Hares found a couple of places along the way that were new to me.They also did a good job marking the trail. That’s really important. The big up for the day…An outpost in the wilderness…The way ahead.A view from the top…Looking back.A portion of the Hash circle…or should I say a slice?I voluntarily joined the Hares on the ice as a testament to their fine trail.An assortment of Gash.Our newest named Hasher, Where’s My Money?Cream Filled Cupcake received the Hashit. She’s so damn cute!And then the sun set on another Hash day.
I took a tricycle back to Barretto and devoured some pork chops to satisfy my well-earned hunger. Then it was on to home and in bed by 8 p.m. Not as sad as it sounds, it was a fine day.
Pubic Head and I will be Hares for next week’s trail. More on that later.
Nothing much to speak of on this pre-Hash Monday morning. That won’t stop me though.
Played in the dart tourney at Lagoon Resort out on Baloy Beach yesterday. The good news I guess is I threw relatively decent darts. The bad news is I had maybe the worst partner ever. Listen, I get it that some people are less skilled than others, but if you miss the board entirely with two out of three darts, maybe you ain’t ready for tournament play. That was frustrating enough, but what really irritated me was giving her advice on what to aim at and then having that advice completely ignored. I can forgive a lot if you are striving to improve but to not even attempt to learn the game is bullshit. So, it made for a less enjoyable than it should have been experience. I honestly wanted to lose and be out early. But somehow we made it to the finals. I think the dart Gods were fucking with me because that required a LONG wait for the losers bracket to play out. And then we promptly lost our match to finish second on the day. Oh well.
The other day I ventured into a fish store on the Subic side of the bridge. Walked by it a hundred times and paid it no heed. To be more accurate, it is a store that sells Norwegian salmon and not much else. I’m not really a big fish eater, but the guy I was hiking with wanted to drop in and see what they had. He wound up getting some salmon steaks and I bought these:
They were on sale–buy two at 350 pesos, get one free. Well, 12 salmon patties for 7 bucks seemed like too good a deal to pass up.That made for a nice change in the breakfast meat category of my low carb breakfast. I remember as a kid my mom made salmon patties for dinner on a regular basis. We were pretty poor back then so I’m guessing salmon in a can must have been a cheap way to make a meal. Ah, memories.
Nikole, my masseuse, went on and on about an incident that occurred out in the Baloy beach area. Apparently, she has a client there and he falsely accused her of stealing his phone and 80,000 pesos (over $1500.). He even went to the police to report her as the thief. She was upset to the point of tears as she told the tale. Of course, without any evidence against her, the police took no action. She was concerned though that her reputation had been soiled and that she would lose customers as a result.
Those fears were confirmed as I waited for the dart tourney to start and witnessed two guys talking at the bar about the woman who had stolen from their friend. Damn, this is such a small town! Oh, and here’s the fucked up epilog to the tale. Nikole sent me a message today that the accuser had found both his phone and the money, apparently having hidden them so well he couldn’t find them earlier. What a loser. As Nikole noted, he has dropped the charges but her reputation isn’t as easily repaired.
Not that it is pertinent to the story, but my impression is that Nikole is not servicing these customers with massages. I think she might actually be a freelance prostitute. Still, being perceived as a dishonest hooker can’t be good for business either. Oh well, hope it all works out for her.
I’ll have the report from today’s Hash here for you tomorrow. The trail is starting in Alta Vista and finishing at Hunter Jo’s in Calapadayan. That’s a good long hike even as the crow flies. Should be interesting to see how the Hare’s get us there.
I’m a side-sleeper. Sometimes after sleeping awhile on my left side, my shoulder will start to ache, so I rollover. That worked fine up until a few days ago when I awoke after sleeping on my right side with excruciating pain in my neck and back pain.Just rolling over again felt like being stabbed. Oddly enough, once I change positions the stabbing pain subsides to a dull ache. In the morning when I’m up around the only lingering impact is having a stiff and sore neck with a somewhat limited range of motion. Not sure what’s up with my neck but I hope it goes away soon.Not my neck, the pain I mean. Hence,it is always important to consult a doctor who can help you in understanding upper back pain. This Recommended Site visit can help you to get rid off neck pain.
As long as we are on the subject of my health, today marks one week into the new low(er) carb diet routine. The results from today’s weigh-in: 207.8. That’s down 3.2 pounds so I’ll call that progress. Other vital stats include BP at 132/86 and a resting heart rate of 61 BPM. I reckon I can live with that. Provided I don’t die on trail or get run over by a Jeepney on the highway.
Today being Sunday I treated myself to breakfast out.
The view from my table at Treasure Island Resort on Baloy beach.My low carb breakfast: ham, cheese, and mushroom omelet with coffee. Hold the toast and hashbrowns.
Being in a beachy mood I did my morning walk on one.
Since the tide was low I took the beach route to the old Navy base.Still had to climb over those damn rocks though. They are higher than they look, perhaps that lone fisherman gives some perspective. Also, I mistimed one of my jumps and an incoming wave soaked my feet. Oh well.Nothing to do but to enjoy the day you have as best as you are able.
And that’s just what I intend to do. Nikole is due shortly to provide my weekly massage. After that, I’ll head back out to Baloy for a dart tourney.
Well, I do enjoy some paid-for company now and then, not that I need it.
As is my custom, I finished yesterday evening beachside at Mango’s. Took a couple of photos attempting to capture the beauty of one particular moment in time but can’t decide which one is best. What do you think?
This……or this?
Well, I reckon beauty is in the eye of the beer holder, right? Although I’m faithfully sticking with my new diet of gin and soda water.
Tough but satisfying hike with the Friday walkers. We had my driver drop us off in the Gordon Heights section of Olongapo City and headed out (and up) from there.
The route we took from Olongapo upward over the mountain then down again and onward to Baloy beach for after hike refreshment at Johan’s Dive Resort. My fellow hikers Jim, Troy, and Scott.Heading out to tackle that mountain in front of us.Hey, wait for me!And so the climb begins…A babbling brook…And a green wall.A bridge of fools?Welp, this mountain ain’t gonna climb itself!Where in the hell did our trail go? Consumed by thatch grass it was! Poor Jim and Troy had to literally beat down a new path.The tall grass made the climb all the more arduous and dangerous……As Scott can attest after taking this fall. No injuries though. Other than to his pride.Looking back towards Olongapo. Slow and steady as she goes, right Scott?I don’t recall the name of this fruit at the moment, but Filipinas love it. Had any been along with us the tree would have likely been plucked bare.Troy enjoying a reflective moment on trail. If I could read his mind I suspect he is thinking “why are those old bastards so damn slow?”I almost always find a tree that speaks to me. I can’t understand a word of it though because I don’t speak tree.And then it is down, down, down.You don’t get to be as old as we are by taking unnecessary chancesWe passed by Mary Jane’s place, so I headed up to for a quick hello…Got to meet her sister too. Wowza!
A good day on trail all and all.
And this post proves it, don’t you think?
That’s it for this time, folks.
So may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten Sons are like birds, flying upward over the mountain
Or maybe this post is down and dirty. One of those.
I enjoyed the sunrise this morning.
There’s a rainbow in there somewhere.Zoom doesn’t help much. Sorry, my phone camera just doesn’t see things the way I do.
Anyway, just a quick update on my love life. I still haven’t got one. But that’s okay. I did get some news about Iline (remember her?) that left me feeling a little disconcerted. A friend of mine who wasn’t privy to my former relationship with Iline mentioned that she had met a friend of his and they have fallen madly in love. He also told me that she broke things off with her Canadian boyfriend when she met this new guy. What could I say other than good for her. Still, that was the one thing I wanted her to do before I went all in and she wouldn’t or couldn’t do it. Granted, I never asked her to, in fact, I intentionally left it entirely up to her–do what makes you happy–was how I left it. She wanted it both ways though and in the end, I had to walk away. Not without feeling some pain and regret though. So maybe this news tells me all I need to know about who she is and what we had. Perhaps I am indeed the lucky one. Oh, and I removed all the password protection from my previous posts about her. She’s free of the former boyfriend now so her cheating with me is no longer an issue.
In unrelated but somewhat coincidental news, I heard from Mary yesterday for the first time in a long time. She’s the sexy 22-year old I met on the street a few months back. Last I’d heard she was working in a bar here in Barretto. Our final get-together had been completely unsatisfying and I was resolved to be done with her for good. Well, she gave me the whole song and dance about how she misses me and wanted to see me. I reminded her of our last encounter and she promised this time she’d do better. I told her that I wasn’t going to pay her 5000 pesos again and she said that was fine–pay what I want or nothing at all. Hmm. Well, I had to give her credit for upping her game over these past couple months. I guess working in a bar will do that. After some back and forth I finally relented and agreed to meet her.
Turns out my original instinct was correct. She was 30 minutes late and as standoffish as ever. Still looked smoking hot though. Oh well, took her upstairs and did the deed, and once again it was less than special. While she was in the bathroom afterward, she messaged me asking if I would give her 5000 pesos. I simply responded “no”. As she was leaving I stuffed 3000 pesos in her pocket and told her that’s the going rate for a short time in Barretto and then I sent her on her way.
What the fuck is wrong with me? Oh yeah, now I remember. I’m a whore. Might as well embrace it. I blame Joe Biden!
Life goes on despite the occasional wrenching experiences.
Worth a couple of minutes of your time if you are in need of a smile.
A very nice walk this morning with my Friday group. More on that tomorrow. Time for me to get out and about. It is almost gin and soda o’clock!
Well, I guess we will all be sorry. I fear for the well-being of my country and I’m very disappointed in my fellow citizens. I think I’ll just leave it at that for now.
Good thing I’m in the Philippines where I won’t see the shit to come up close and personal. I’ll pay for it though. We all will.
I took a good long walk this morning hoping to keep the blues at bay. Can’t say that it worked but nothing to be done but to keep on keepin’ on I suppose. A solitary 12K, mostly on pavement.
One of those streets I marched.I thought Kevin Kim might have enjoyed this covered shelter featuring a comfortable looking upholstered chair. And the flowers growing on the roof are a nice touch.A different angle on Easter mountain…The first of a dozen or so discarded face masks I observed this morning. I guess some things at least never change.
And that’s about it from here. I blew off playing darts this afternoon. Think I’ll get a haircut instead. Maybe I’ll get drunk after that.
Here’s a new place that just opened. Haven’t been yet but I love the name…
It’s election day back in the USA. As of this writing, I have seen no returns or other reports on the potential outcome of what just might be the most important presidential vote in my lifetime. I’m nervous about the outcome, not because I have any questions about who is the better-qualified candidate to lead our nation these next four years, rather I have my doubts about the competence and intelligence of the electorate.
I guess the above sounds pretty generic in the sense that a supporter of either of the candidates could reasonably make that statement. Although I don’t delve into politics much these days on the blog, regular readers I’m sure know where I stand on the issues our nation faces and the leadership we need to successfully move into the future. I’m no Trump fanatic, far from it in fact. But just as I chose the clown over the crook in 2016, I’ll take the asshole over the idiot in 2020. I do hope it turns out that way and I reckon I’ll know for sure soon enough.
All of this is a leadup to a post that appeared on my Facebook newsfeed yesterday, written by a “friend” from back in my Korea days named Martin Kelly:
No, that’s not what I am saying. ….I’m not saying I think all Trump supporters are Nazis. I’m saying I know that for a fact. The sky is blue, the sea is green, all Trump supporters are Nazis.
But surely you are not accusing 39 million……
Yes, I am. Sure, of course, some of them are nice guys. But there were nice guy Nazis too
Wow. That is without a doubt the most ignorant thing I have read from someone I know on Facebook in all the years I’ve been wasting time on that platform. And if he is any indication of just how stupid my fellow Americans have become then I truly do fear for my country. I actually went back and looked at his profile page to see if maybe I was missing his sarcasm or some context where such an outrageous comment would make sense. There was none.
I don’t know why I even bothered responding. Someone that far gone with Trump Derangement Syndrome can’t be saved by offering up a rational opposing view. Instead, I said this:
Reductio ad Hitlerum (/ˈhɪtlÉ™rÉ™m/; Latin for “reduction to Hitler”), also known as playing the Nazi card,[1][2] is an attempt to invalidate someone else’s position on the basis that the same view was held by Adolf Hitler or the Nazi Party.[3] One example would be that since Hitler was against smoking, this implies that someone who is against smoking is a Nazi.[4]
And just in case the words were too big for his closed little mind, I added a helpful illustration:
I haven’t unfriended him on Facebook or even checked to see if he has canceled me. The other comments on his post were from fellow travelers though. Scary to see that people really believe this shit.
Oh well, nothing I can do about politics except live as best I can with whatever the future may bring. Thank God I have the benefit of living thousands of miles away from my troubled homeland.
So, after that experience, I went out to ease my mind with some darts competition. Somehow the headgear of the tournament director was comforting:
I like your style, Billy!
Good fortune was with me as I drew Christy, one of the top players here in Barretto, as my partner. She did the heavy lifting and I made some meaningful contributions as we sailed our way to victory without losing a game.
Well played, partner!
I also received my meat delivery yesterday. How’s this for a slab of beef:
That layer of fat on top and bottom was disconcerting the first time I ordered one. It looks nothing like the beef roasts I used to get back home. But it turned out to be quite tasty last time.So I sliced it up and smothered it in vegetables. Looking forward to chowing down tonight!
A small turnout for today’s Wednesday walking group.
Me, Steve, and Jim braved the fine weather and did a pleasant 6K hike together.I was tasked with leading the hike and chose to do a trail featuring My Bitch. Y’all have seen that one a million times already, so not many photos today.Thank you, Mother Mary, for keeping us safe!And thank you Easter mountain for watching over us.
And as always, thank you to my readers for blessing me with your presence here at Long Time Gone.
Oh wait, I almost forgot. Turns out that litter DOESgrow on trees here:
Will wonders never cease?
And I’m also going to share the unlikely news that I DID NOT see a discarded facemask during my hike today.
There’s a first time for everything they say, and yesterday was the first time I was pleasantly surprised when hiking a trail laid by Vienna Sausage (Guenter). Don’t get me wrong, it was plenty challenging it just wasn’t insane. I appreciated that. I actually mentioned to the co-Hare, Anal Receptive, that he must have exercised some strong arm twisting to prevent the creation of a Guenter-style nightmare. He admitted that he did have to work hard to convince Vienna to avoid being overly extreme. Their compromise was adding a “hard” section to the trail for those crazy people who enjoy such nonsense. Anyway, it worked for me.
The green line represents the “easy” bypass to avoid a much more difficult undertaking. Easy is a relative term though. We had a very steep climb at the beginning and a slippery descent as well. One of each was more than enough for me!We had a nice turnout of 30 some odd (well, truthfully most of us are odd) Hashers.It was On-On and then almost immediately On-Up!To the Hare’s credit, they actually found a new trail for us to experience. That’s unusual indeed. Pubic Head (Scott) has been Hashing in Subic for 15 years or so and he remembers ALL the trails he’s hiked. Said he’d never been on this one.I’m not sure I’d do this one again voluntarily, but one thing about a steep trail, it gets you to the top sooner.That’s Pubic Head bringing up the rear. And I was back there with him to, um, photograph the event.And that’s the behind of K9 Linguist.Near the top was this neatly stacked pile of wood. It is destined to be turned into uling, which is Filipino charcoal used for cooking.A view from up top.And off in the distance the ever-present Easter mountain.Almost to the top girls, don’t give up now!Western Union Sperm Bank stands at the junction of Easy and Hard. She also had the good sense to take the easy route.I’ll end the suspense right now. Even out in the wilderness, I was able to find some mask litter to photograph.Ah, the joys of walking on almost flat ground. Comparatively easy it was.This was the one thousand four hundred seventeenth running of the SBH3. The Hare’s were feeling a little creative I guess.Yes, indeed I did get the Kilroy was here reference. I’m an old fucker though.Always nice to encounter some Gash on trail.Onward!A young father and child. Or maybe brother, hard to tell these days.Pubic Head still bringing up the rear and I’m right there with him!The way ahead.On-Down!Our destination in Barretto awaits us, but it’s a long and slippery descent indeed!Pubic Head says “I’ve got this, follow me!”And so we did.Safely ensconced at our On-Home in Queen Victoria enjoying some liquid refreshment after our hike.And later we enjoyed watching Vienna Sausage being recognized for his 69th run with the SBH3,
And so ended another day with the Hash. Considering how I figured we’d be precluded by a typhoon it turned out to be an unexpectedly nice time indeed.
Super typhoon Rolly must have encountered some Kryptonite on the way to Olongapo. Just a little rain but no winds, flooding, or damage in these parts. This is not to say there wasn’t death and destruction where the storm did make landfall, just noting my good fortune that it apparently bypassed us.
So unless things dramatically change I’ll be making an appearance at today’s Hash. Not as sure I’ll be doing Guenter’s trail though. I don’t know for certain what he has in mind but from our start point on Banaba street, I’d wager the long, hard, and steep climb up what even he calls “Motherfucker” is a distinct possibility. None of that for me, thanks. Once I get there I’ll just wing it I suppose. I’ll likely just stay on the pavement today.
I did make it out for a bit yesterday afternoon before the rain hit. Started at Cheap Charlies and had this in lieu of beer:
That’s my new preferred drink, gin and soda water. I get one shot of gin in a tall glass which makes it half as potent as the normal drink would be. I had two during the hour I spent there.
I was successful in avoiding my mid-day meal yesterday as well. Quelled the hunger pangs with a slice of turkey lunch meat and some processed cheese. It worked. But by 5:30 I was definitely ready for dinner. Foodies, the restaurant downstairs from Cheap Charlies, had their Sunday special on offer–roast beef. Tempting though that sounded, I had a hankering for the pork chops at Mango’s. So off I went.
Ordered up another gin and soda upon arrival and told the waitress I wanted the grilled pork chops. She came back a couple of minutes later with the disappointing news that the chops were not available. Hmm, now what? I asked if they had roast chicken and she went off to check. Upon return, she advised that I could get half a roast chicken now, or if I was willing to wait 40 minutes I could get a fresh whole chicken. Hmm, something about the way she emphasized the word “fresh” compelled me to ask how old the half chicken was. “A couple of days”. Although I didn’t need a whole chicken I had no problem waiting for it to be freshly roasted.
That’s a lot of chicken! And quite tasty as well. Served with a side of coleslaw too. Took the leftovers home to my helpers, so it was a win-win situation for sure. Oh, and I had a final gin and soda with dinner.
Then when I got home I had a strawberry-banana smoothie, likely eliminating any benefits I may have derived from my good behavior throughout the day. Ah well, it’s a process.
Had an abbreviated walk in the rain with the dogs.this morning But not to worry, I still managed to capture this image:
There is relatively less litter within my neighborhood than outside the gate, but it is far from litter-free. We even have discarded masks.
And here’s a bonus for you litter maniacs:
That’s right, a face shield! Now that’s something I don’t see every day. Kudos to Buddy for the photobomb too.
And so it begins. Again. I can no longer pretend not to notice that large protrusion around my mid-section popularly known as a beer belly. How it got there I haven’t a clue but I’ve resolved to take appropriate actions to make it go away.
Yes, Google is my friend and the WebMD tells me my beer belly may come from my consumption of beer. Go figure. Also, unhealthy eating habits like indulging my sweet tooth and other high-calorie carbohydrates. This usually happens after I drink a few beers, so I guess there is some correlation. So what to do about it? Well, the web is full of advice, most of which comes down to diet and exercise. Tell me something I don’t already know!
I don’t expect I’ll have six-pack abs, but I want to get rid of the keg I have now.
Truth is, I do get plenty of exercise in the form of walking. Admittedly my step count has fallen off somewhat of late, averaging around 18,000 steps daily rather than the 20,000+ I used to do routinely. I’m going to work on bumping that back up but I’m also planning to add some strength training as well.
Nothing real dramatic though, just some resistance band training and using the ab wheel to strengthen up those stomach muscles.
The real challenge will be in reducing my calorie intake and regaining some discipline when it comes to just saying “no!” to the foods I enjoy, like ice cream and other sweets. That’s why I had that big breakfast of French toast yesterday; just my way of saying goodbye. For a while at least.
Compare and contrast to this morning’s breakfast–no bread at all!
So, this is basically my plan: I’ll have a big breakfast and skip lunch. If I get hungry, I’ll eat something healthier like nuts or a slice of cheese. I’ll cut out the sweets as much as I can too. No big ass bowls of ice cream but maybe an occasional strawberry smoothie. What am I forgetting? Oh yeah, the beer. Hmm. I do drink low carb, low-calorie beer now but I’m drinking too much of it. Starting today I’ll cut way back on the beer consumption. I’m thinking I’ll indulge on Hash day because beer is all that is available. On other nights when I’m out and about I’ll switch to something carb-free, like gin and soda water. I’ve already checked with my favorite bars and I was pleased to find that they all stock soda water so I should be good to go.
I’ve done this regimen before. Dropped 70 pounds in about 18 months by taking up walking and engaging in some dietary discipline. I weighed in this morning at an even 211 pounds. My goal is to bet back under 200, so that means at least 12 pounds have got to go. I’d actually like to drop around 20 pounds and then try and maintain a healthy for me weight of 195.
Two years ago when I was back home in the USA I was happy to discover I could still wear my letter carrier jacket. I think it would be a tight squeeze now.
What else is going on? Well, everyone is these parts is waiting expectantly for Super Typhoon Rolly to roll in. I thought it was due to hit in the wee hours of this morning but I hadn’t noticed the times in the tracker were GMT. Arrival is now expected tonight around 9:00. Looks like it is going to be a doozy, probably the strongest storm I’ve seen since moving here. Rolly is hitting at the same time as high tide and word is there will be a storm surge of 2 or 3 meters. So flooding could be an issue for those near the beach. Rolly is also packing big winds and that could cause some damage, especially for those who are living in shacks and squalor already. I guess my worry about loss of power is meaningless, comparatively speaking. Still, I’m fully prepared to suck it up and book a room at Mango’s should the need arise.
It was clear an hour ago, but now the rain has arrived. Good thing I got my morning walk in at least.
So here’s your daily dose of mask litter porn.
Speaking of porn, you should see my ass. Almost a week after taking my spill during the Hash, my butt is still sore. Here’s why:
Just be thankful I cropped out the crack. You are welcome!
It’s highly unlikely I’ll be doing a Hash tomorrow. For one thing, Guenter is the Hare again. For another, there’ll be a frickin’ typhoon. I’m hoping things have moderated enough that I can do a bar crawl type trail. We’ll see.
And that’s it from here on this rainy Sunday. Wish me luck!
Well, here it is: The Post You’ve Been Waiting For!
I hope you are not too disappointed.
But wait, there’s more! Happy Halloween for one thing. And courtesy of Facebook memories I can share this blast from the past:
Eun Oke and me from four years ago. The whole dressing up thing was her idea and she was responsible for the costumes. I just played along. She could be a fun girl. I kinda miss her some.I didn’t dress up again until last year. Tonight I’ll go out as a COVID-free 65-year-old. That oughta scare ’em!
Speaking of memories, how about this shot of my work family circa 2005:
“Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”
But enough about me. I saw this on my dog walk today:
I’m always shocked at all the things Filipinos can figure out how to load on a tricycle. Note that I didn’t say load safely.
And if you think that is funny, you’ll love this:
Sorrow floats.
So, I took this shot from my perch at Mango’s yesterday evening:
I thought it might be the precursor of the typhoon that is headed our way. Turns out it was just a thunderstorm. Been sunny and clear all day today. So far anyway.
But Typhoon Rolly is still rolling our way. The latest tracker I saw says it should come ashore early tomorrow morning.
It’s a category 4 storm and it looks like it’s gonna be pretty much a direct hit. That means lots of rain and high winds. It’s the winds I dread because I know the power grid won’t withstand the lashing of a storm of this magnitude and I doubt they’ll send out repair crews until the storm has passed. I’ve already made tentative plans to book a hotel room at a place with a generator. Maybe even Mango’s.
But I’ll worry about that tomorrow. For now, let me look back on yesterday’s hike to Tibag. We go out that way once a year or so and I was looking forward to the trek. Not sure why I like that area so much, it’s isolated and not all that easy to access. Heh, maybe I just answered my own question. As usual, I’ll let the pictures tell the story (and most of the photo credits go to Scott).
It was a small gathering of the Friday walkers: Me, Troy, Jim, and the man behind the camera, Scott.Our destination awaits.We followed the road on the way up to Tibag with the intent of finding a river crossing and coming back on the opposite side.Handed out some cookies along the way…This guy told me to keep my fuckin’ cookies. Or so it appeared.
So, it was a total of10K hike there and back. A couple of years ago we had done a picnic alongside a creek at the end of the road. Things change though. Here’s what the end of the road looked like this year:
WTF? They turned it into a garbage dumping area. A real buzz killer.And now this poor family is stuck living next to a dump. What a shame.So, we moved on and found a nicer view.A cabin in the woods.Bamboo teepees… Is that cultural appropriation?Poor Troy had to do a lot of waiting on us older guys…Here they are!And then we came to the proverbial fork in the road.Downtown Tibag features the elementary school and not much else. At least ii is a child-friendly school…We also found the river crossing we were looking for in Tibag. One of the neighbor ladies leaned out her window to warn us “it’s not safe!”. Jim was able to confirm that within a few steps. I could see that old bamboo bending to the near breaking point under his weight. That was a big NOPE for me. We wound up walking back the way we came.Onward!The locals were friendly.This picture seems a little creepy though…Improving the road to the dump I reckon…This little piggy hasn’t gone to market. Yet.A river runs through it.Doing the laundry the old school way…Jim on a rock.A bridge to nowhere. Does anybody recognize that mountain?Scott is homeward bound.And yes, as a matter of fact, I did find a discarded facemask…
It was a good day on trail. Looking forward to being able to explore the other side of the river next time.
And finally, here’s what I had for breakfast this morning:
French toast at Sit-n-Bull. There’s a reason I wanted to satisfy my craving today. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. Sorry, Kevin!
Nothing all that special I suppose, but having a good day that doesn’t even seem special makes for something special. Oh, I’m talking about yesterday by the way. I’ll tell you how special today has been tomorrow.
It started out like this.
Did the morning walk with the dogs. When I got home I saw a Facebook memory from two years ago showing Lucky in his previous life:
Tied to a stump on a short leash and left to sit all day without food and water.I think his current circumstances are more to his liking. He’s a fat lazy bastard now, that’s for sure!
I took myself on a longer than normal two-hour walk on the Subic side of the river. It was quite pleasant actually.
Even found the coveted mask litter to photograph and share here.
Over at his blog, Kevin Kim was talking about the wear and tear on his body and the change in his appearance upon the completion of his month-long hike from Incheon to Busan. Well, I don’t have blistered and mangled feet, but I’ve gone through some changes from my walking exploits as well:
Slowly but surely I’m turning into a Filipino!
After my morning walk was complete, I took a nap and did my Bundok post here. Then perused Facebook some and found these gems:
That was me nine years ago. A fat and happy married man.Cum on! If they named a girls camp that these days there would be an orgasm of outrage!Here’s a yard sign I rather like.And some scary behaviors I don’t like.I haven’t ranted about the stupidity of COVID restrictions lately. But this one is about as dumb as I’ve seen. Seriously, cars can’t park next to each other because of COVID? And now I’m hearing live music is being banned in the bars as well. Not sure why. There are so few customers around with the tourists excluded that social distancing isn’t an issue when a bar band is playing.
Alright, enough of Facebook. It’s starting to piss me off. Besides, it is time to play darts at Johan’s down on Baloy Beach. I was the first to arrive but soon enough a few others showed up and we had ourselves a little tournament.
Me and Vincent were the only males in attendance. Nothing wrong with that!
My partner was off her game but I was throwing quite a bit better than usual. That allowed us to go undefeated on the afternoon and take home first place money. Such as it was (300 pesos each). I don’t play for the money anyway, I come for the beer competition.
We got it done!
After darts, I headed over to Queen Victoria and shared my winnings in the form of lady drinks for my favorite waitresses. Then headed across the street to Mango’s to enjoy my ritual of watching the sun go down.
Tuesday is supposed to be my day off from walking. It’s a whole other kind of excitement for me on grocery shopping day. This week things went a bit out of the norm though. To begin, my driver had a court appearance (no, I didn’t ask why) and couldn’t pick me up until 10:30. No big deal. Also, I had to go to the immigration office in Olongapo to renew my tourist visa for another 60 days. That went fine. Then it was off for the groceries.
I wanted to hit Pure Gold, another grocery store on the old Navy base, first to see if they were stocking some of the things I can’t seem to get at Royal lately. I was pleasantly surprised to find the coveted frozen strawberries I hadn’t seen for months. Also got a few other hard to find items, then went to the old Royal store nearby for the rest of my shopping. Given the late start and detours, I wasn’t back home until 1:00 p.m.
When I checked my phone I found a message from H.I.V. asking if I was coming to the Bundok Hash he was hosting. Well, a couple of weeks ago I had signed up and never got a response. I figured it wasn’t happening. Then I heard it mentioned at Sunday’s COVID Hash so I emailed to ask what was going on and once again got no response. I sent another message on Monday and still got no answer. I just figured I wasn’t welcome. And now the Grand Master is asking me when I’m going to arrive? Well, fuck it. Changed clothes and headed out to Hot Zone a few minutes before it was time to hit the trail.
I paid my 3500 pesos ($70) and got ready to head out. Guenter was once again the Hare, but I was pretty familiar with the territory so wasn’t too worried about getting fucked over on a fucked up trail.
We started out on the beach…I’m thinking, this is too easy for a Guenter trail…It wasn’t even raining! Ah, but of course. We had to do the crossing where the river enters the bay. I could have taken a shortcut to avoid the wet feet but wanted to be a good example of our out-of-town Hashers…I did find a discarded mask amongst the flotsam on the beach…We circled back around on the streets of Barretto and had a beer stop at the 3K mark. I stuck with water. I like walking and I like drinking but I try and keep those activities separate and distinct.
The second half of the hike was also slated to be 3K and it went up the mountain and on to the familiar My Bitch trail. Guenter’s trail went down to a creekbed/waterfall that I’d done once before and swore I’d never do again. But I knew a better way to go and that’s what I did.
A short but steep climb to the top.These guys were both Hash virgins and were even slower than me. So I hung back to make sure they found their way. When we got to the intersection where my trail turned off I gave them fair warning about what was ahead of them on Guenter’s trail. They opted to stick with me instead. Smart guys!
Made it back to Hot Zone a little after 4 p.m. We had a circle and all the virgins had to wear a diaper on their head for the duration. Our food arrived promptly at 5:00, wings and potato salad from Sit-n-Bull. Then another brief circle to prepare for Phase II of the Bundok.
I’ll need to be discrete discreet in my description of those activities. All the Hashers are randomly given a key to a room at a nearby short time motel. So we can, um, take a shower. The rooms do come equipped with “software” that each individual is free to utilize in any manner that pleases them. Or not at all. Of course, whether the software actually works is also an individualized undertaking. This was my third Bundok and the first time I maximized the capabilities of the software to my ultimate satisfaction. The shower was refreshing as well.
A knock on the door shortly before the hour was up meant that it was time to head back to Hot Zone (we were on the roof, not in the bar) for our final circle and after-action report. Apparently, a good time was had by nearly everyone in attendance. I know I was Charmed.
Oh yeah, here’s this year’s version of the coveted Bundok shirt.
The front.The back. Fuck you COVID.And the discrete disclaimer inside the shirt.
So, that was that. Another day in paradise with a dash of the unexpected to spice things up a bit. Back to my normal routines now. Long (for me) walks yesterday and this morning and I’ll do some darts out on Baloy beach this afternoon.
Sorry I was unable to post here yesterday. Sometimes life intrudes and not always in a bad way. More on yesterday tomorrow. For now, let me recap the events of Monday’s 27th Anniversary of the Subic Bay Hash House Harriers.
I guess a good place to start is with what I got at the finish–the traditional anniversary Hash shirt:
The front. Actually, this is something of a fuck-up. I don’t like sleeveless shirts, but I did specify a v-neck. Apparently, the only way to get a v-neck is to go sleeveless. Oh well, I ordered another one better suited to my desires.Hey, wait a minute. What has it got in its pocketses?And the clever design on the back. Fuck you, COVID!The path we took. The long trail had an additional 3K at the start.
We had 75 in attendance which is about triple our usual pandemic numbers. We took two truckloads out to the starting points, one for the long 8K and the other for the 5K trail.
We were packed in like sardines for the ride out to our trailhead. So much for social distancing, eh?And we are On-On!I’d been here once before. There is poor and then there is dirt poor. This is the poorest village I’ve seen in our area for sure.See what I mean?And then we commenced our long, LONG climb to the top. It wasn’t always steep but it took us an hour to get to the top.One of the things that slowed us down was the jungle-like terrain.What I disliked the most was frequently having to do a limbo dance to get under low branches.But we prevailed and made our way onward.And the scenery was nice.You can almost feel that jungle vibe, right?By the time we reached the top, Moaning For Boner looked as tired as I felt.My favorite view from the hike.“Yes son, that is indeed the ass of the famous Easter Mountain!”Either the Hares are liars or they have a sick sense of humor. Or both. We still had a long, steep, and slippery descent ahead of us. I fell hard on my ass about halfway down and have the bruises to prove it (sorry, no pic available).But I eventually did make it back down to civilization on the other side of the mountain. It was my pleasure to give this pretty mama a bag of cookies for her kiddies…And yes, I did find my daily ration of mask litter to photograph.On-Home was at Hunter’s Jo Inn and we overwhelmed the place with our volume of bodies.Circle up!I’m the one in blue.On the ice for my Hash crash.7/11 Sucker celebrated his 69th run with the Subic Bay Hash in the traditional manner.
And that’s pretty much how the day went. I was snockered by the end and triked directly home at the conclusion of the circle.
So, that made two Hash runs in a row and it turns out that yesterday I did an unanticipated third–a Bundok run. That’s the “men only” Hash. I’ll tell some of that story tomorrow and some can simply not be disclosed due to the “what happens at the Bundok, stays at the Bundok” rule.
So, I attended the Angeles City Corona Hash outstation run yesterday out on the far side of Subic town. It turned out to be a bit of a fiasco but overall it was a good day. We encountered heavy rain on trail and the Hares got lost but otherwise no complaints. The rain did mostly stop by the time the circle commenced, so there was that to be thankful for.
Speaking of rain, it’s pouring down again this morning. Looks like our Subic anniversary Hash is going to be a messy one later today. Power went out a couple of hours ago, I saw the sparks flying down the street so it is probably a blown transformer. Not sure how long that will take to fix. I’m operating on battery power and my phone wifi hotspot for now. I reckon I better get these photos posted while I’ve still got juice.
The event was held in the area known as Fallon Falls.As I mentioned yesterday, we had scouted the trail last week. Things change though. For example, the water was running higher and faster after all the recent rain. That made crossing the stream much dicier…
In fact, after the first crossing, Scott and I said “fuck this” and set about finding a different path.
We still had the cross the creek twice more, but nothing like we would have faced if we followed the course laid by the Hares. We did do one climb and it was muddy and slippery on both the up and the down. But I actually really enjoyed the path we took. Around 5K.We wound up passing through a remote enclave of Aeta (native) people and it was interesting to see how they live. Very friendly and welcoming.And it turns out that Aeta children like cookies too!This carabao didn’t seem to mind us foreigners passing through his ‘hood either.I don’t know what it is about some of these big old trees that I find so pleasing. They are like poetry I suppose.This was my favorite stream crossing of the day. Didn’t even get my feet wet. Well, wetter anyway. I was already soaked by this point.I was despairing that I wouldn’t find a discarded face mask to share here. In fact, hardly any of the locals we encountered we even wearing masks. And then, as if by magic, right as we completed our trail this one appeared on the road.Scott and I enjoying a well-earned beer at the conclusion of the hike.Preparing for the circle. It turns out the Corona Hashers do use ice in their ceremonies.A Corona Hash shirt. The back side. Of the shirt I mean.
So, I learned that the Corona Hash was formed because the leaders of the Angeles City Hash refused to reconvene until such time as this COVID hysteria has passed. So a group of like-minded members broke away and formed a new Hash group. I think with that context the shirt seems to be a subtle dig at their AC brethren.
Circle up!Hares on the ice. Yeah, they lost the trail but I can’t rag on them much because it happened where I got lost myself last week. A lot of the Corona Hashers are staying in town for our anniversary run today.
Today’s run should be interesting. Guenter is one of the Hares along with Simon. One long trail of 8K and one shorter version at 5K. Both require us to be trucked out to the starting point. That will be a miserable ride if the rain continues. Oh well, I’ll just suck it up and make the best of it I suppose.
I’ll let you know how it went tomorrow. Stay tuned!
I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.
I’ll be heading out in a bit to Subic town for a meet-up with a group of Angeles City Hashers doing an outstation run today. You may recall I participated in the scouting mission for the trail last week and got my feet wet twelve times on creek crossings. I may choose a different path for myself this go-round. We’ll see how I feel about it when I get there.
In other news, I played darts again last night and threw better than my previous outing, although admittedly that’s not saying much. My partner and I were a little out of sync, but we played well enough to earn a spot in the championship round. Where we failed utterly and completely. So, the unlikely winning streak ends at four. We lost to two good players and there is no shame in finishing second. It did occur to me that wanting to win as badly as I did probably didn’t help my game. I tend to play my best when I don’t really give a shit if I win or lose. Go figure.
After darts, I visited Mango’s and enjoyed my weekly fix of pork chops. This week’s storm has moved on, but the high tides and rough waters will not soon be forgotten.
The bay regurgitated all that crap it’s been fed onto the beach.
I had a bowl of cereal this morning for breakfast. Remember how reading the back of the box while eating was a thing? I was reminded of that when I saw this:
Good stuff!
After I ate, it was dog walk time. There is a section of road here in the ‘hood with no traffic so I let the boys run free for a bit.
Buddy-boy always looks forward to being de-leashed.Lucky is a disobedient twat so I need to keep his handle on.I guess I’ve been adopted by Budai. She joins us every day for our walk. I give her some food or a treat when we get home. Most nights she sleeps on my front porch.I asked these chickens why they crossed the road and they gave me a look like they didn’t know what I was talking about.On my morning walk, I took note of the fact that our recent rains have reactivated this dormant waterfall.A quick up and back down.I took the stairway of tires to get down.And since one blogger I know documents the discarded gloves he sees on his walkabouts, I decided to showcase the masks amongst the litter.I’ll take that as a sign. What exactly did the Lord a ledgerly say?
Anyway, not a bad morning in these parts. Here’s hoping the afternoon goes well too. Either way, you can read about it here tomorrow!
The wins keep multiplying. Another first-place finish in last night’s Alley Cats tournament. This victory was all the more unlikely because I truly did play like shit, especially early on. We got knocked into the loser’s bracket in the first round and barely managed to avoid being first out of the tourney. Had some luck along the way and kept fighting and scratching our way into the championship finals. It came down to the last leg of a very tough match but we pulled it out of our ass somehow.
Congrats to my partner, Kevin. The best thing I can say about last night is we didn’t give up, even when things appeared hopeless.
So that makes four tourney wins in a row. Will I take the fifth tonight? Not going to answer that on grounds that it may incriminate me.
In other news, the weather has finally cleared up. That allowed me to take a slightly longer and more interesting walk this morning. I’m sure y’all have been jonesing for some outdoorsy pictures, so here you go:
Those of you who have been following Kevin Kim’s epic walk from Incheon to Busan know that he likes to include an occasional dead animal in his photo essays. So, I dedicate this frog to Kevin!What with all the rain and me playing darts I haven’t had the opportunity to share a new view of Easter mountain for quite a while now. Here you go.The rain is more than a memory though. Most of the back streets I was walking on were full of puddles like these.Others provided muddy reminders of our recent wet weather. A bit further up this alley was a babbling brook I had to cross. Too wide to jump over so wet shoes it was.The final climb taking me back to home sweet home.
It does seem that there is a hierarchy amongst my pets:
I do believe Buddy is signaling that he is indeed top dog.
And that’s all I’ve got for today.
I hope you’ll agree that this was a bloomin’ good post…
UPDATE: Well, damn. I didn’t even check today’s post title because it didn’t occur to me that I might have used such a silly pun previously. Turns out I did–way back in September. Then my cute pun was about our hike: Us four going forth on the fourth. Hey, it was funny in my head. Oh well.
There have been quite a few squalls around this past couple of days. Just when you think this storm track has finally moved on, another heavy downpour blows in and a few minutes later is gone. Until the next one arrives. Trying to decide when or if you can head outdoors is a crapshoot. I did carry my umbrella when I ventured out yesterday only to have it destroyed by the gusty wind. Talk about being tropically depressed!
Anyway, the weather is the weather. Nothing you can do about it but complain and now that I have done that, I’ll move on to something else. How about darts? Well, okay then!
I took the ill-fated (for my umbrella) stroll out to Baloy beach yesterday afternoon to participate in the tournament at Johan’s Dive Resort. That’s dive as in scuba dive, not that the place is a dump. it’s actually relatively new, and while not fancy, it is a clean and pleasant atmosphere. I kind of dreaded walking up Baloy road because I knew after all this rain the pothole-filled street would be flooded. And it was. I managed to keep my feet mostly dry by some creative maneuvering, until the umbrella fiasco. As I was trying to get the damn thing straightened out I stepped into a big puddle. Oh well.
It was the first time I’d participated in the Johan’s tourney. Their board setup isn’t ideal (people walking through to get to the restroom) and the lighting is barely adequate. It’s also an open-air type bar so the windy conditions made accurate throwing more of a challenge than normal. Which is not to make excuses, my game was off but that’s on me. I drew Vincent, a French guy from New Caledonia, as my partner. He threw somewhat better than I did but was also inconsistent. Luckily for us, when I was off, he was on and vice-versa. And that combination was good enough to prevail against all of our opponents in the tournament.
That makes three consecutive tourneys I’ve won. I don’t think I’ve done that before.Is there anything more fun than watching people throw darts? Besides reading about it here I mean.
Actually, Vincent wasn’t supposed to have even been here. He left a couple of days ago to travel back home. Apparently, there is only one flight a week to New Caledonia which has imposed a pretty severe lockdown on the small island. He had a seat reserved on that flight from Japan. When he got to the airport in Manila to make that connection in Tokyo, they wouldn’t let him board. Why? Because his COVID swab test was from the Red Cross in Olongapo and Philippine Air only accepts test results from designated facilities in Manila. He’s not sure now when or if he’ll make it back home. Good luck with that!
Well, there are worse places to be stuck than here in my little town I suppose. Even when it rains you can find somewhere to play darts. Which I might do AGAIN this afternoon. Hey, I’m on a roll!
