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There were a couple of earthquakes down south. Of course, they were right where our power grid is, so we were without power for about a week and a half. They have the power back, but I’m thinking it will still be going down from time to time so they can finish repairing the damage. I must say that from the pictures I’ve seen of the site, they actually did a good job of getting it back that fast. I know that I, and many others, really appreciate the haste at which they accomplished things. It’s not normal for them to be so efficient, but they sure surprised us this time. It sure felt good to have my fan and my computer back after 10 days.
A few days later there was a small earthquake here in Calbayog, but again none of us here at the house felt it. As little as 1/2 mile away it was felt, but not here. As far as can be told so far, that one did not cause any damage and didn’t interrupt the power that had already been turned back on.
The restaurant, My Food Ever, has been closed for about a week because of no power. I believe they will be opening back up on Monday, the 17th, as long as the power seems to be stable. In addition to the power being out, it’s been raining often, so they were not getting enough customers to justify staying open. Personally I think they need to make some changes if they hope to stay open very much longer. Their food is very good, but the constant “out of stock” and messing up orders is catching up with them. I still think that if they cater more to the expats, they would make a better go of it. It’s not my money though and whatever they decide to do I will support them as much as I can.
I was contacted by a company called PCSgrades to write a few articles for them about Space A. Their paying me to do it, so, of course, I wanted to do it. The stories are being posted at a rate of 1 per week and I have 3 on there already. I’ve only been paid for the first one, but I’m sure the rest of the money will be coming soon. Here is a link to the first one I did: http://blog.pcsgrades.com/space-a-travel-newbie/. I’ve got others scheduled to be posted, I have one I’m about ready to start writing and a few more I need to do some additional research on.
This is the 2nd post of mine : http://blog.pcsgrades.com/space-a-travel-resources/ and this is the 3rd and last one (so far) http://blog.pcsgrades.com/popular-misconceptions-space-travel/. I just hope they are going to be helpful to someone that reads them. This last one seems to be the most popular so far. Please check them out and let me know what you think. If you can think of other Space A topics that need further explanation, let me know and I’ll do some research and see if I can make a post out of that also.
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Gaisano Mall is open, but it’s not complete yet. It’s 5 stories of all kinds of things. They even have large bags trail mix and large bags of almonds. These items are not yet at Metro. They are both a bit expensive for me, trying to save for our trip, though. It’s P555 ($11) for the trail mix and P888 ($17.75) for the almonds. The theater has not been finished yet, that’s what I’m waiting for. There are a few food places, but no real food court yet. I’m expecting that around the time the theater is finished. There is to be a McDonald’s in there, but they won’t get any of my money, except for maybe their fries, unless they will have their breakfast items there, then I’ll buy those.
The Metro Supermarket has been getting more and more western style items. They have even had a constant supply of dill pickles recently. They still have some there, so they must be restocking because I have been buying a lot of them. They also now have Heinz ketchup, Dinty Moore beef stew and Hormel hot chili, just to name a few of the newer items they now stock. I hope they keep it up. They have competition now, so they have to try harder. In my opinion, so far, they are winning that competition.
For the marks I get on my arm from being out in the sun, I think I’ve figured out what they are. It is a pretty common problem and it is called Solar Purpura (aka Senile Purpura). Unfortunately, it comes with age, so that means I must be getting older. I will still have a doctor check it out when I get back to Texas. It comes later in life and usually affects the part of the body that got the most sun in your younger days. Since I usually wear shirts with no sleeves, sometimes short sleeves and rarely a long sleeve, my arms seem to be that area. That also is the most common area that this problem occurs on. If it’s that, it’s not really a problem and I heard of a cream (or lotion) that will slow down or even reverse the effects. It’s expensive though, so I’d need insurance to help me along or get a doctor to prescribe it and ‘maybe’ they will have it on base. I’ve ordered some arm sleeves to wear in the sun to see if that will prevent them from appearing. I hope so because I enjoy being out in the sun a lot. I didn’t order the ones that make it look like your arm is covered in tattoos. That is not my style, although I don’t have much of a style.
In about 2 months Lita and I will be trying to get to Texas again. I think we will do much better than last year and I have a better plan for the return trip so we won’t get stuck for 9 days like we did our last Texas trip. For that return trip, and my plan, I do hope to get stuck for 1 or 2 days though at Yokota AB in Japan. I like the way that base is set up. Although I loved being assigned to Kadena AB in Okinawa, they need to establish a shuttle system to get people around. It’s just too far in-between places and taxis are too expensive to be using all the time. We should be gone for 4-6 weeks to Texas and thanks to Pete Frederickson, we will have some transportation while we are there. Now if I can just find a good, cheap (or better yet, free) place to stay, we’ll be all set. I hate bothering my parents in their small apartment and my brother and sisters don’t really have the room to put us up for so long either. Besides, I don’t want to interrupt their lives for such a long period.
That’s what I’ve got for now. I hope the power holds out or even if it has to go off, it won’t be off long.
Salamat Y’all
Good to have you back online, as I know the wait was killing you. There is nothing I cringe more about than lack of power. Nice to gleen that the Mall is finally coming to fruition… as I sit here reading your post, freezing from the AC that my wife has set to artic-blast, eating my Wendy’s double cheeseburger (he he… had to throw all that in). I sure hope they get to work on that electrical infrastructure and make some progress before we return. Right now, I’m obviously in no hurry.
Yes the wait was killing me. I wanted the computer more than I wanted my fan. I think this time finally convinced Lita that we need a generator, so maybe something good came out of all this. The mall is still a work in progress, but I’m sure it will get there eventually. I’m glad that Metro is getting so much more of the things that I like. They have had dill pickles in stock for about a month. Lita bought me one of the large, 1 gallon jars. She said it only cost P350. I can deal with that. I had some of the Dinty Moore beef stew yesterday and the day before that I had some Hormel hot chili (beanless of course). They even have 2 different brands of jalapenos now and Heinz ketchup. Moving on up. Still no Subway or Yellow Cab Pizza though. A Wendy’s would be a good idea also, but that’s probably the longest shot of all to get that one of the 3 I mentioned.
Yeah ‘hopefully’ they will use this opportunity to upgrade that electrical infrastructure and get with the 21st century, or at least the 20th century.