I never really had a plan for life, I just reacted to it. Whenever I reached a crossroads, I chose a direction and followed the road without a clue as to where it might take me. I guess it is natural to wonder about the paths that would have led to a different life, but you only get to live the life you chose. No mulligans. But I have been extremely fortunate and blessed. The roads I have taken have led to some great adventures and life-altering experiences. A fool’s luck perhaps, but even though I could never have imagined what my life would turn out to be, it has been a very nice ride. So it is time to look forward again. And it will be an adventure with an uncertain outcome for sure.

I originally wrote that on New Year’s Day 2005 as I contemplated my future life in Korea. I quoted it again in a post I wrote on my last day in Korea. And here I am on the eve of my fourth year in the Philippines. Things haven’t exactly gone the way I imagined they might, but things are good enough for a fat old fuck like me.

Speaking of fat, I’m kicking off a plan to try and lose some of this belly. It’s so out of control that one of the female Hashers blurted out last night, “I can’t believe how big your stomach is!” Ouch. I checked the scale this morning, and it registered 216.1. Yikes. My goal has always been to stay under 200 pounds, but 215 is my redline. Looks like it’s time for some lifestyle changes. At this point, I’m not planning to do anything really extreme. Obviously, I need to cut WAY back on my beer intake. And at the grocery store today, I showed the self-discipline to avoid buying my usual weekly gallon of ice cream (1/2 vanilla, 1/2 rocky road). The problem is when I drink all that beer and come home. I seem to lack the ability to refrain from eating ice cream like there is no tomorrow. I always have an excuse–eating a bunch tonight is no more calories than eating a little over several days–but obviously, that’s just wishful thinking. So, less beer, fewer sweets, more exercise, and maybe skip a meal most days. That’s the plan anyway.

The big news around here is that the Philippines has elected a new President: Ferdinand Bong Bong Marcos. If that name sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because Bong Bong’s dad was the infamous former president/dictator. Ferdinand Sr. even puts Hillary to shame, holding the Guinness World Record for the largest-ever theft from a government. He won in an apparent landslide, so I suppose the age-old question of which old saying: “you can’t judge the son by the sins of the father” or “the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree” is correct.

Alright, let’s get to yesterday’s Hash. I wound up doing a long and solitary trail. It was my choice to do it that way. I hate riding in the Hashmobile, so I opted to walk the 3.3K to the trailhead from my house. The Hares, Leech My Nuggets, and Fuck A Duck had a long and a short option. I took the shorter 5K version. When I reached the start, I decided not to wait for the other Hashers to arrive and set out on my own. I won’t usually hike in the hills when I’m unfamiliar with the terrain, but Leech always makes a well-marked trail, and I knew if I got into some kind of trouble, the other Hashers were only thirty minutes or so behind me.

I’m adding additional photos from the Hash page as usual. Mine are especially boring this week since I was the only Hasher in sight.

The liquor ban was still in effect, so we all stayed longer than usual at the On-Home (we usually pack up and head out to a local bar for some post-Hash drinking. It was odd to be stumbling home in the dark, but I made it without incident.

And that was my Monday.