Retirement

Well, I've retired now and I am living in the Philippines. Living here is presenting challenges all the time, but mostly I enjoy it. Nothing happens on time--and any of you know me, know that is a difficult thing for me to deal with. Things are on their own schedule.

We have an apartment on the 46th floor of the Grand Towers II on Pablo Ocampo Street in Manila. We have a wonderful view of Manila Bay. Our first big purchases were a bed/mattress and an air conditioner. The latter is absolutely essential for me, as the heat quickly makes me wilt. I'm getting better but I am not fully adapted yet.

We were supposed to move into our apartment on Monday, the 20th. Instead, we got into a different apartment on Saturday, the 25th. In between, we got delays and foot dragging and things got challenging. We couldn't really afford a hotel for an extra week, so we ended up staying with one of Mexica's aunts for a few days. They were very gracious. The pictures on my Facebook account of me reading to two little kids are of me reading to her aunt's two kids, Yuro and Reika.

Traffic in Manila is SOOOOOO BAD. I was looking out our apartment window and I can see our hotel from there. It is no more than 2-3 miles but driving would take us at least an hour.

I went the US Embassy on Wednesday to get paperwork, and that took me about 3 1/2 hours. Funny thing, the man in line in front of me was from Springfield MA. I never got his story, he was the one unfriendly man in the whole line. The rest of us talked and shared stories and it was pretty interested how we each ended up in the Philippines.

This is a little disjointed, and I am sorry for that. I will post more episodically now, if I can, as I have time. Once we have internet in our apartment, I hope to do better. Right now I'm in a public study room in the apartment complex. Next to the palm trees, the swimming pool and the Jacuzzi tub. More to follow from the Philippines, bye for now!

Courage

I have read several pundits lately who have credited Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) with courage for his budget proposals. If that is so, I guess I am confused about just what courage is. Ryan's proposals are based on attacks on the elderly and the disabled (Medicare and Medicaid), children and the poor (Medicaid). He caters obsequiously to the very wealthy and the very powerful (cutting taxes again).

In my world, it does not take courage to attack the weak, the old, the sick, the poor and the young. As far as I can tell Ryan and his ilk are the ultimate cowards.

Shutdown?

Well, the government shutdown bug is alive and well. It looked like it had died out in the 1990's but no bad idea ever really goes away, I guess. This one has been revived by the same kind of folks who were doing them before, only these characters are more thoroughly nasty than the Gingrich crew.

I don't know what's going to happen, but I do know that every significant financial reversal in my life, except my divorce, has involved Republicans!

Boston at Seattle

For Father's Day, David took me out to the ballgame. We waited until the Red Sox were in town, which made it ideal. It was a great day for a ballgame, sunny, warm, with a perfectly cloudless blue sky. The game was tight, close all the way into the 8th, with the Red Sox hanging on to a 2-1 lead until their defense, primarily at second base, fell apart and they gave Seattle 3 runs. Seattle managed two successful bunts in the inning. Both were supposed to be sacrifices, including a suicide squeeze, but poor defense made them hits. Boston really misses Dustin Pedroia.

Seated behind us were a group of Japanese teenagers--junior high students. They were there to see Ichiro, and since we were in the right field seats, they'd come to the right place. It was not a great game for him--no great defensive plays and he went hitless--but they enjoyed seeing him, taking his picture, calling out to him and holding up their homemade sign that said "fight Ichiro."

Halloween Preparations at Ben's

I went to Ben's house Saturday and we went from there to a farm near Olympia where we got pumpkins. They had a petting zoo and a hayride and ton of pumpkins. The kids went and got started on that while I called AAA, since Ben had locked himself out of his car (I'm still not sure how that happened). I don't use AAA that often, but it sure is great to have. They came out and unlocked the car for no charge (it's good on any car I'm in!) and took care of the problem clean as a whistle. Then I was off to find pumpkins with the gang. Everyone found their perfect gourd and then we went back home to carve them. Sarah had stayed home and baked pita bread--made some great mini-pizzas with fresh tomato, red onion, feta cheese and herbs (WOW).

The Jack O'Lanterns were all really great. Each kid made one that reflected their personality and style. The bottom one is mine!

Home Repairs as Farce

When I got home from Massachusetts on Tuesday there was a note on my door, from my landlord. It announced that on Wed-Thursday the repair aces, AKA the Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight, would be replacing the patio doors and the bedroom windows in my front bedroom. They asked that I move anything in that bedroom at least 3 feet from windows, so I did. I moved everything into the Living Room.

When I got home Wednesday afternoon, they'd done nothing on the patio door, nothing in the front bedroom. They had, however, replaced all the windows in my Living Room.

Nobel Peace Prize

Obama hasn't brought peace-of course no one else has either-but he has brought hope. Mainly, I think the prize recognizes the general global sentiment--"Thank God Bush is gone!" Maybe now the USA can start acting like a rational member of the world community and not like a drunken frat boy with a chip on his shoulder. Obama's challenge now is to really earn this award.