[smartads] —–This is a long post, you might want to get something to drink and/or eat before you sit down to start reading. Maybe take a quick CR break also.—–
Don’t forget to click on the pictures to get further comments on the pictures. I put something on all the pictures in this post.
On Wednesday night (7 Dec), 8:00pm, there was a private Christmas Party at the Ciriaco Hotel. A guy named Edmund that is a branch manager for the company having the party, stopped by LolyKat about 7:30pm to get some Mentos and we talked for a while about retiring in the Philippines vs. retiring in the US.
Well Ado did get his multi-cab back. His mother-in-law (Bebie) borrowed money against her SSI (social security) to pay the debt. Of course is she wants to get her full entitlement when she retires, she will have to figure out a way to pay that back before she actually retires. It surprised me that they are allowed to do that here. I suppose if they had that in the US, some people would really be in trouble when it came time to retire. They might not have anything left at all. I don’t know what kind of payment arrangements that they made, but I’m guessing he will have to find a way to pay most or maybe all of that back to her.
It’s Thursday afternoon now (Dec 8). It’s about 1:00pm (still no clock out here in LolyKat) and Lita is waiting out front for a tricycle to take her downtown … and there she goes. She doesn’t have too much to buy so it should be an easy trip.
We have been trying recently to establish good relations with the new gift shop next door. They do cell phone reloads there so when someone comes to us to ask for a load, we send them there. Cathy use to do the loads here, but she quit. It doesn’t look like she will start up again either. She’s too busy being a Mom of 4 and housekeeper now that they can’t afford a yaya anymore. That gift shop is not very big yet, but I expect them to grow. I know they will be making a lot of money this month with Christmas coming up so quickly. I guess I should, or get Lita to, mention to the people at the gift shop that we are sending people there for that. I tell people to mention that I sent them there, but I’m not sure if they understand what I’m saying or if they actually do it. (Well I just asked Lita about that and she said they know there already because she told them. I guess I’m behind the power curve on that). I did get a couple of pictures of the gift shop though. The pictures are further down the post.
A lady came by to buy some Kalamansi’s (small green lemons). We had 13 of them left and she bough all 13 of them. The little girl with her was so cute that I had to throw in a free lollipop. I’m a sucker for cute little kids most of the time. Besides, her Mom or Grandma, whichever the lady was, will remember that and maybe will stop by again when she needs something. I told Lita we were now out of Kalamansi and she got up to look for more, but we don’t have anymore. I was hoping while she was up she would take over for me here in the store, but not such luck. She went back into the room.
Useless Knowledge: Gerald Ford was an assistant football coach at Yale University. He played football at the University of Michigan and turned down offers to play for the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. Eventually he tackled the job of being president, but was carried off the field after only one term.
I keep waiting 2 or 3 days to do a post and my notes get longer and longer. I guess since I’m in the store everyday, that will happen. It’s still Thursday and I have not even uncovered the computer yet. At 5:13 or 5:18 or 5:23, Lita came out to relieve me in the store. All the clocks are at different times again and I’m tired of adjusting them. It doesn’t really matter to me what time it is anyway, as long as it’s close.
By 6:35pm she told me she was starving and wanted me to watch the store while she ate, in the house. I don’t know why she doesn’t eat in the store. When it’s my turn to watch the store, she tells me to just bring the food out there. Sometimes she eats out there with me or even by herself sometimes. I guess it just depends on the mood she is in. I know I’ll be out here until we close now. Her stories start around 7:00pm, so she won’t be back out tonight. Do I sound bitter about it? Well maybe I am a little bit, but it’s all cool.
Okay it’s Friday morning now, 9 Dec. It’s about 0950 and I’m now in LolyKat. I’ve watched Fox News the last hour or so before I came out, but they were only showing random things I was interested in, so I turned it off. I didn’t have to stay out in LolyKat very long, only about 20 minutes. Lita said she was waiting on someone and she would stay there until they arrived. I went back in the house.
I should mention that it is raining again, just to keep you up to date on that information.
I didn’t have to go back to LolyKat until 1:15pm. I think I will be out here for quite awhile though. I brought some Red Pepsi out with me and my notebook. The other things (cards, Yahtzee, puzzles) I just leave out in the store all the time now. I brought the camera out here with me also. I did take a few pictures, but they are mostly the same things, just looking different. They will be in this post, so you can see what I’m talking about.
I can’t remember if I mentioned it or not, but there is a guy that has a bicycle here that is made almost entirely out of bamboo. I want to take a picture of it, but I don’t normally see him until he is passing by and I don’t have the camera ready. The guy just rode by again, that’s what made me think about it. If I get up enough nerve someday and I have the camera ready, I’ll try to stop him to get the picture.
I also see lots of guys walking by with their roosters. There must be a cockfight at the arena this afternoon. I just got a picture of a young lady wearing some rather unusual attire for riding a motorcycle.
Whenever we finally do get enough money coming in, and less going out, I’m going to buy a new camera. I know squat about cameras, but I will want to get like a semi-professional type one, if they are called such a thing. Something that is digital, with continuous shooting and you can also use it as a video camera. Of course it would have to have a back up battery with it so I can just keep exchanging them. I assume such a camera exists. I wonder about the price though. I’m thinking in the $500-$600 range?
Hit Count: The last hit count on 8 Dec was 1,786,070. Right now it is 1,806,506. That’s an increase of 20436 for 3 days. An average of 6812. At that rate we would have 2,486,380 in a years time.
One of the newer, larger size tricycles is parked across the street. Yeah I got pictures of it. These things are like in between the regular tricycles and a multi-cab. Pretty roomy and I prefer to ride in these when I have a choice.
I met another American guy today. His name is Jim and he is from Nebraska. His girlfriend’s name is Anna. They will be heading to Manila in the morning, but he said he may stop by later to talk some more, because we don’t close until 10:00pm. He said he’s flight is leaving at 0700, so he must have to be there around 0500. If it were me, I wouldn’t come by again, I’d be sleeping. I guess he came to the same conclusion later, because he didn’t come by again. I suppose he will be by someday again and I will see him. I did give him the website name, so he could be reading this now. Howdy Jim!
Lita decided to give me a reprieve from the store for a couple of hours, 5:00pm-7:00pm. It’s only 6:00pm right now so I’m going to check my mail and the blog. Victor was standing outside trying to flag down a tricycle to go home, but it seems they are all full. He had to wait about 10-15 minutes before he finally got one he could fit in.
At 7:20pm I’m back in LolyKat and I know I’ll be here for the duration, until 10:00pm. Mar and Marianne decided to stop by and chat for awhile. That made it a little less boring out there. We discussed different things, but most of it involved us staying in Cebu in January or February, whenever it is we end up going. I don’t know the area, but they, especially Mar, know it extensively. He suggested a hotel that he has stayed in a couple of times and he says it is a good hotel. I’m going to look it up later and I’ll let you know what I think of it. The name of the hotel is the Cebu Business Hotel, in downtown Cebu.
Okay y’all, it’s Saturday morning. I got up around 0815, after going to bed around 0200. I brushed my teeth and shaved. Man to I look and smell good. Not great, but good. I got on the computer to check both my e-mail and the this blog. I had 3 comments on the blog, which is nice. For some reason I do not get many comments anymore. Maybe I’m submitting less interesting stuff. I answered all the comments and even learned a couple of things from it.
I just saw that other American guy, not Jake, the other one (the one that was surprised to hear me say “Y’all). He looked to be in a hurry again though. They just about ran out of the hotel and got in a tricycle and headed towards downtown.
Lita came in and “asked” me to go out to the store while she rested. She was feeling dizzy. That happens when she over works herself. In Texas she had to work. Here it’s volunteer. She only has to work as much as she wants to, or none if she wants. She will never not do any work though. It’s just not in her nature. If she lives to be 100, she will still be doing some work if she is able.
Casandra made her first purchase today. It was a SpeedStick (a crispy tubular wafer) at the price of P1. I’m sure she had no idea of what was happening, but the immediate memory may have been triggered. Precious has the purchasing down pretty good. Her problem is that everything is “1 coin”. No matter the value of the coin or the product, it cost 1 coin.
I’ve been wondering if we will be able to come up with enough money to even shop at the little gift shop next door. I saw several cheap toys that the kids seem to like. I think that if we shop for only the 8 children, we could get away with spending less than P1500, probably pretty easily. I hate to not being able to get them anything. The adults can be patient and wait until next year. Actually I’m hoping to get a list of everyone’s birthday and start giving them something, even if it’s something small, for surviving another year.
Okay, I’m going to stop with the notes now. I’m up to noon on Saturday and I will continue hopefully tomorrow, but certainly the next day after that. I hope you enjoy the newer pictures I have taken of the area. I did manage to get some that you have not seen before, just not a lot yet.
Salamat, Paalam
Today in Philippine History