“Like attracts like. Just be who you are, calm and clear and bright. Automatically, as we shine who we are, asking ourselves every minute is this what I really want to do, doing it only when we answer yes, automatically that turns away those who have nothing to learn from who we are, and attracts those who do, and from whom we have to learn, as well.”
― Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

If it were possible to overdose on disappointments I might have been in serious trouble yesterday.

The biggest surprise was news of an edict from the know-nothings in Manila requiring that “…no “Beerhouses”, Bars, Pubs, Entertainment establishments, and anywhere where alcohol is the primary thing being sold be allowed to open under “ANY” form of Quarantine.” This means that the grand re-opening that has taken place over the past couple of weeks here in Barretto was all for naught. Lots of disappointed beer drinkers like me of course, but the ones most hurt of course all those folks who had just started back to work. But that’s of no concern for the powers that be apparently. And oh by the way, have you heard how many cases of COVID-19 have originated in Barretto? That would be zero (not counting me).

I guess if there was a ray of sunshine in this dark turn of events it would be that restaurants will still be open and allowed to serve alcoholic beverages. Well, within limitations. Cheap Charlies posted today that customers ordering food for dine-in or take out will be allowed two drinks while waiting for or eating their meal. We’ll see how that plays out. I might try getting an order of fries, drinking my two drinks, then ordering a bowl of chili or something like that. A four or five-course meal might just do the trick! I’m going to check out Mango’s (which is technically a restaurant) tonight and see how they are implementing this new policy.

I was also saddened by the news that the Arizona Resort is closing its doors forever. It was one of my favorite places to eat here and I have many fond memories of the times I stayed there back when I was a tourist. A big loss for our little town for sure.

In a drunken moment of weakness, I initiated contact with Jessa last night. She explained her silence as waiting to see if I would message her first. Man, I hate those kinds of games but I congratulated her on her victory. She also brought up the fact that I had not responded to her letting me know that her foreigner (German I think) boyfriend wouldn’t be returning to the Philippines in August after all. I told her that her plans for ending that relationship were not my business. My concern was that she was breaking up with the intent of using me as her safety net. That kind of pissed her off. I explained that I had enjoyed our dates but I wasn’t ready to begin a new relationship. And that was all it took. She told me that she wouldn’t be seeing me again. Which tells me my gut was right about her not being the one for me. Still somewhat disappointing, but for the best.

And yesterday’s Hash didn’t go as planned either. The trail was supposed to start from Alta Vista at noon. Others would meet at Angel’s bakery in Baretto at 11:00 to be guided to the start point. I arrived at the starting location around 11:30 only to discover that everyone had already headed out. That kind of pissed me off because I hike alone every day and I was looking forward to having some company on the trail for a change. Oh well.

I knew where the On-Home was being held and how to get there. I had a pretty good idea of the route the Hare had planned. So off I went. About a quarter of the way to my destination I inexplicably lost the trail. I understand from the other Hashers that it was a well-marked trail so it was my fuck-up. I compounded my error by guessing wrong the direction the trail was going to take and thereby foiling my plans for a rendevous further down the road. So I wound basically walking to the On-Home along the highway. A lonely and unpleasant walk to be sure.

I was in a sour mood during the On-Home festivities and drank more than normal. Took a trike back to Barretto and stopped into Queen Victoria bar for “one more”. That’s where I learned that bars would be closing starting today. And I don’t remember much of anything after that. I got a message from one of my neighbors saying it was nice to see me last night. I told her I didn’t recall talking to her. She responded, “because you were drunk”. Hmm, I do believe I need to find a better method for dealing with disappointment. Although just in case, I did stock up on beer for here at the house. It would be disappointing to be stuck here without liquid refreshment.

Since I wasn’t on trail for long I didn’t take many pictures. Here’s what I’ve got:

Today is my mother’s birthday.

And as long as we are riding the time machine, here’s me doing videoke when videoke wasn’t cool.

I hope y’all weren’t disappointed with this post. It’s all I’ve got.

Ah, another restless Sunday. I did enough beers at Cheap Charlies to persuade me of the wisdom of taking a trike home as opposed to walking as I normally do. I was in bed before 9 and awake at midnight with another coughing jag. This shit is getting old! Experienced a little shortness of breath while walking Buddy this morning, then came home and took a nap. The temptation to just completely laze away the day crossed my mind, but I felt compelled to get off my ass and do something. As much for my mental health as anything. I’m thinking too much these days it seems. So I took a stroll in search of perspective.

It was one of my standard walks that takes about an hour to complete. Care to join me?

That was nice. Thanks for joining me. I think I need another nap!

Had a somewhat better sleep last night which gave me the strength and courage to attempt the regularly scheduled group hike this morning. I did confirm that it would be relatively flat before signing on. The cough isn’t as bad but I did experience some shortness of breath while walking the dogs earlier. Also, my blood pressure is in the 140s (normally in 130s) and my resting heart rate is 73 (usually low 60s). Not sure if that is related or not to my current ailment but I figured some healthy exercise couldn’t hurt me. So off I went.

We drove out to Subic town and commenced our hike there. A change of scenery is always nice when you are out and about.

All in all, it was a quite pleasant 5K walk and I didn’t experience any real problems while on trail. Well, I did use my inhaler once, but that’s what it is for. We finished up at Sit-n-Bull for some nourishment and liquid refreshment. That’s one fine morning if you ask me.

Anyway, slowly getting my body back to normal. It’s Friday so I reckon I ought to go into town later and feed myself some beers.

Cheers!

UPDATE: Turns out I used the “Up and at ’em” title back in March 2017. Coincidentally, I was coughing back then too. That’s right around the time I got my COPD diagnosis…

Just a few tidbits to share as I go about living this life of leisure.

I had a bit of a shock when I read this post over at the Althouse blog. The post itself was not shocking to see, but the name featured, Eliot Dudik, threw me for a loop. It’s always surprising to see the name of someone you actually know personally prominently mentioned on a big name blog. I met Eliot when he was an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina several years ago. I knew he was big-time into photography (I even bought one of his books) but we hung out a pub called Puddlin’ Duck and threw darts together. Until he got offered a full professorship at William and Mary in Virginia. We are still friends on Facebook but otherwise, we have pretty much lost touch over the ensuing years. He was recently featured in an NPR article as well and his photography skills are on full display. Go give it a look-see.

I actually went back to see if I had ever mentioned Eliot here at LTG. Apparently not, but that search led me to a post from 2014 called Punctuality. I found it hilarious in light of my notorious lack of skill when it comes to punctuation. But what was really fun was re-reading an article linked in that post called The 5 Best Punctuation Marks in Literature. Go give it a read if you are so inclined (I’m talking to you, Kevin Kim!)

Alright, moving on to the more mundane (yes, it does get worse!) stuff:

Speaking of hikes, today’s 7K endeavor was pretty mellow. Especially when compared to Monday’s Hash nightmare. My life didn’t pass before my eyes even once this morning!

We just did one climb, some highway walking, then finished on the beach.

After completing the hike we decided to grab us some lunch at a restaurant called The Pub. It’s owned by a Korean-American named John Kim. One of my compatriots asked why the menu didn’t feature more Korean dishes and John replied “because I left Korea when I was 10 years old”.

Speaking of food, here’s the meal I provided for Jessa on our Sunday date.

The date went fine too. I’m still not sure where things are going and I’m undecided if I want to go there anyway. She is ratcheting things up some so I guess I’m going to have to make up my mind soon.

Here’s a Facebook memory from five years ago:

I found this rather punny:

Anyway, this looks like as good a place as any to bring your pain to an end. For now.

…always get me down. Especially rain on Hash Monday. And even more so when Vienna Sausage (Günter) is the Hare.

So, it rained all morning yesterday and I had pretty much resigned myself to walking the streets with an umbrella to the Hash On-Home at Derelick’s place. But then the rain halted and I decided to at least go to the designated meet-up spot since it was right here in my subdivision. I’m always wary when Günter is laying trail and I had in fact resolved to never participate whenever he was Hare again. But he told the assembled group that the path he had in mind was less than 3KM and that we would have one ascent going up to My Bitch from Marian Hills.

Well, that’s familiar territory for me and I figured what could go wrong on a 3K hike? So, I threw caution to the wind and Hashed with the group. I won’t call it a big mistake because a big mistake would have resulted in broken bones. Let’s just say I was very lucky it wasn’t a big mistake. Now, I will say that when Günter scouted the trail it hadn’t rained. But on this rainy Monday, the steep uphills and crazy downs he loves were a muddy and slippery mess. And there were at least three times on this relatively short hike where I felt endangered. And that takes pretty much all the fun out of the endeavor. I know that last time I ranted about one of Günter’s trails I said “never again!” And this time I really, really mean it.

Back at the On-Home, I sulked and drowned my sorrows as best I could.

Shortly thereafter they ran out of the kind of beer I drink. That was the last straw for me and I left before the completion of circle ceremonies. I hoofed it over to Sit-n-Bull where I enjoyed a pulled pork sandwich and coleslaw for dinner. Then I moseyed over to Mango’s for a nightcap before heading home.

Woke up a little sick during the night. I’ve had a runny nose and been sneezing all day long. No temperature though so I’m betting against this being COVID related. It does make you stop and think though. I actually have determined that I WOULD NOT go to the hospital for a test. The last place I want to be is in a quarantine ward at some shit-hole facility. And I have a suspicion they’s call it COVID whether it was or not. Nope. If I’m bound to die it will be right here at home I hope.

Talkin’ to myself and feelin’ old
Sometimes I’d like to quit
Nothing ever seems to fit
Hangin’ around
Nothing to do but frown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down

What I’ve got they used to call the blues
Nothin’ is really wrong
Feelin’ like I don’t belong
Walkin’ around
Some kind of lonely clown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down

Just for the record, I never cared for that song. Although these days I can relate to it more than I’d like.

Q: What should you do if you’re attacked by a gang of clowns?
A: Go for the juggler.

I attended a birthday party last night. A pretty nice time actually. The womenfolk (Filipinas) did their thing, including videoke. Us guys gave them space and drank our beers together off to the side.

I’ll cop to having the courage of a few beers under my belt and taking the microphone to inflict pain and suffering on the attendees via my rendition of the Bee Gees classic I Started A Joke. Fun times.

I walked home from the other side of town after the party and it was pretty dicey. No idea the back streets got so dark at night. I made it home safely, but next time I’ll trike it for sure.

Jessa is on her way over to spend the day with me today. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve felt myself pulling away from her lately, but I want to be sure it’s about a lack of compatibility rather than fear on my part.

Here’s some stuff I found funny:

Fun and games! Stay tuned.

I started a joke, which started the whole world crying
But I didn’t see that the joke was on me, oh no

I started to cry, which started the whole world laughing
Oh, if I’d only seen that the joke was on me

I looked at the skies, running my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed, hurting my head from things that I’d said

Till I finally died, which started the whole world living
Oh, if I’d only seen that the joke was on me

I looked at the skies, running my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed, hurting my head from things that I’d said

‘Till I finally died, which started the whole world living
Oh, if I’d only seen that the joke was on me

Trust me, the Bee Gees sounded better than I did last night.

I can’t even claim to have zip.

More and more bars continue to reopen. I’m going to have to commence with a bar crawl one of these days soon. It is kinda sorta nice to have the sexy ladies trying to entice me into their establishments again. Too bad I’m not really into the girly bar scene, although perhaps an exception is in order.

Did a few beers at Cheap Charlies last night and enjoyed the company of my favorite there, Rose. Maya was working as well and I decided to forgive her for her past transgressions (basically, ignoring me on New Year’s Eve and thereby hurting my feelings). She had a big smile and a look of relief when I bought her a lady drink. Ah, it’s the little things, right?

Then it was on to Alley Cats for the first time in months. Saw some of the old regulars and wished Billy (who runs the dart tournaments) a happy birthday. Closed the place down. Well, it closes at 8:00 these days, but still.

Made my way home without incident and successfully prepared the smoothie that was aborted the previous night. Interestingly, using fresh fruit instead of frozen made for a less enjoyable beverage. It wasn’t cold enough. Next time I go fresh I’ll add some ice cubes I think.

This morning’s walk wasn’t anything special. I just hoofed it up the National Highway towards Subic town, then turned around and walked back. And that was as boring as it sounds.

Sorta like this post, eh?

A woman’s husband comes home hammered every night, and she always yells at him before going to bed alone.

One day she decides to try some reverse psychology. When her husband staggers in that night, she’s waiting for him in her best lingerie. She sits him in an armchair and gives him a back rub.

“It’s getting late, big boy,” she says after a few minutes. “Why don’t we go upstairs to bed?”

“We might as well,” slurs the husband. “I’m going to be in trouble when I get home, anyway.”

UPDATE: The last time I said “I got nothin’” was in January 2019. That nothin’ was a bit more substantial than this one though.

So, I had the good fortune to secure some fresh strawberries. A friend is having fresh fruits and veggies shipped down from Baguio once a week and I ordered a kilo of berries for 450 pesos ($9). Yeah, a bit pricey but I haven’t seen a strawberry since the last time I visited Baguio back in February.

Those smoothie dreams were soon to be shattered, however.

A broken blender may well be an apt metaphor for my love life. It seems I don’t mix well with the female of the species. Last night I got a message from Jessa saying “I am serious about you but you aren’t serious about me”. I’m not sure why, but that message left me with a blend of feelings–anger, hurt, and sadness. I was a few beers into my night at that point so I chose to limit my response to “I’m sorry you feel that way”. This morning we chatted our way through the issue, but honestly, that kind of emotional manipulation is a huge red flag for me. More and more I’m thinking I might just be better off alone.

And when you are surrounded by nature’s beauty whilst out walking are you ever really alone? My hike today was a beast–6.66 kilometers exactly. Scary, huh? And check out this spider:

And I would suck as a banana harvester because you’d never get me to climb this ladder:

Sincerity is everything. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.

It was a pretty special day at the Subic Bay Hash House Harriers as we celebrated our run number one thousand four hundred. Coincidentally, it was my one hundredth run with the SBH3. I know technically that doesn’t make me a Centurion, but it’s about as badass as I’ll ever be I reckon.

I was also one-third of a Hare trio and we laid a fine 7K trail if I do say so myself. Lots of my fellow Hashers seemed to agree. They especially liked the fact that we took them in a new direction out towards Easter mountain. Our previous “COVID” runs had pretty much started at the four corners intersection on the My Bitch trail. Only so many ways to go from there and it was getting kind of old for all of us I think. The feedback that was most gratifying to me was that the trail was well marked and easy to follow. No one got lost which is always my goal when I Hare.

Anyway, we were loaded down with powder and other trail marking apparatus which pretty much precluded taking pictures along the way. Sorry about that!

In recognition of my achievement in completing 100 runs, I was awarded the coveted SBH3 vest. Oh, and we also had hats made to commemorate our 1400 runs.

Anyway, it was a good day for yours truly.

Nothing ever stays the same I suppose, but things have changed so fast it boggles the mind. Yesterday was the grand re-opening of one of my favorite bar hangouts–Cheap Charlies. So I was excited about dropping in and getting reacquainted.

Well, I was at least greeted warmly and one of the gals even remembered my drink of choice–San Mig Zero. I arrived around 4:00 p.m. and there were only two other customers. None of my old favorite bargirls was working, but Heidi was there as the cashier/manager. Regular readers might recall that I had a big crush on her back in the day, but alas, it proved to be a one-way street.

If you are a social drinker this setup seems to defeat the purpose. And if you like to buy the ladies a drink and enjoy some chat and maybe a cuddle or back massage, well, that doesn’t appear possible these days.

I did wind up buying all the girls working a drink as kind of a welcome back gesture. Heidi tells me that with the reduced staffing levels most of the waitresses will only work a couple of days a week. Guess I’ll need to come back to see some of my old favorites. From a distance.

I only stayed for a couple of beers at Cheap Charlies, then made my way to my new old favorite hangout–Mango’s. I kind of feel a duty to be loyal after they stayed open to accommodate desperate old guys like me during the quarantine.

That was my evening. Meeting up with Pubic Head and Blow My Pipe in a few minutes so we can lay trail for today’s Hash. That’s a downside to these noon starts if you are a Hare. Oh well, all in a day’s work.

Well, in my case, it walks! It’s still good though.

Today is the first Sunday in way too long that I haven’t been under lockdown quarantine rules. I celebrated by taking a long (13K) morning walk out to the old Navy base and back via the National Highway.

And the freedom has only just begun! More announcements of bar openings today, including one of my favorites–Cheap Charlies. I’ll be popping in for a cold one (or two) later this afternoon.

And speaking of memories, two years ago my rescue dog Buddy was rescued yet again.

Yesterday I had some girls over to the house. Made up a batch of spaghetti with meatballs. Served it with broccoli and cornbread. Sorry, for some reason I neglected to take any photos of the food. It was all fine I think although I was a bit surprised that the most popular dish was the broccoli. Go figure.

Jessa spent the night with me again but her Aunt Flo from Redlands was visiting so all we did was sleep. She seems like a nice young woman. I’m not sure why I don’t have a stronger attraction/connection with her. As I walked her to the trike stand this morning she asked me how I was feeling. I told her I was feeling okay. She clarified “I mean, how are you feeling about me?” Yikes! I just told her I was taking things a day at a time and we’d see where that takes us. Yeah, it was a sucky answer but it really is the best I’ve got right now. Something in my gut is telling me that I’m destined to spend my life alone and maybe I should just accept that.

I’m not quite ready to give up though. Jessa may not be the one and if I determine that’s the case I’ll need to let her know so she doesn’t waste her time on me. I can already tell she is thinking of a future with me and that’s something I’m not ready to seriously consider at this point.

Maybe I just love my freedom too much.

Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose,
And nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free,
Feelin’ good was easy, Lord, when Bobby sang the blues,
And buddy, that was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.

Here’s wishing all my American brothers and sisters a Happy Independence Day! The freedoms we have fought to defend and preserve these past 244 years are once again under attack, this time from within our borders. Have we lost our will to stand against tyranny and oppression?

I reveled in some newly regained freedoms last night. First stop was the Hot Zone bar. It was me, two other customers, and the owner, Jay. Two waitresses, no dancers. Still, it’s a start. I had one beer and headed out.

After leaving Hot Zone I made my way down the highway to my “new normal” regular hangout, “Gomans”. Except it is not Gomans anymore. The business has now met all current quarantine requirements and is legally open once again. I can now reveal the real name of this establishment: Mango’s. I enjoyed some dine-in food with my beers but pretty much had the place to myself. I told the manager I’d help spread the word about their re-opening on social media. Wishing them well as we move forward.

For yesterday’s hike, Scott drove us out ten kilometers or so to Castillejos for a trek up to Balon falls and through the Aeta (Filipino indigenous people) resettlement village.

It turned about to be a pretty arduous day. Glad to have got through it with just a few scrapes and scratches. Things don’t always go they way you intend, but I guess that provides an element of adventure.

Monday I’ll be Hare along with Scott and Jim for the Hash trail. We are pretty much just going to use what we scouted on our Wednesday hike this week.

This afternoon, Jessa is coming over along with some of her girlfriends. I’ll be serving spaghetti and meatballs for our meal.

And that’s how this free man is living his free life. Such as it is.

A challenging hike today but I’ll write about that tomorrow. The big news around here is that under the recently implemented modified quarantine standard things are beginning to open up, including–wait for it– some bars!

Obviously, this is big news for a guy like me. Although honestly, I’ve come to understand that a place like “Gomans” fulfills my needs just fine. In the past, it was always just a nice restaurant I’d visit a couple of times a month. Now I enjoy a seat on the back patio with a cold beer and sweet views of the bay. That’s been enough to get me by.

Yesterday I got a message from the manager of the Outback bar (the Speakeasy as I used to refer to it) that they are officially (legally) open for business again. That’s great to hear. Did I visit there last night? Nope, I went back to “Goman’s”. Partly out of loyalty for taking care of me when no one else would. And in part because the manager who wants me back is the same guy who kicked me out without just cause. You didn’t want my business when you claimed to be closed, you won’t get it now that you are wide open.

Today I’ve learned that Hot Zone has also opened again. It is or was a girly bar. I plan to drop by for a quick beer tonight to check it out and say hello to the owner. I’m hoping that my other old haunts and hangouts will soon be following suit–Cheap Charlies for the views and Alley Cats for the darts. After the hike today we popped into The Pub, which is more of a restaurant than a bar, notwithstanding the name. It’s open again under its food license but we were served beer–in plastic cups. Hey, the Philly Cheese Steak was good and the beverage was cold. What else matters?

Anyway, it is good to feel like at least some aspects of my life are getting back to normal.

I’ll leave you with a little taste of political humor: