Crabby Old Bastard

The Plumber and his Partner Ponder the Plugged Pottie So after many futile attempts to unclog the toilet, we were finally forced to seek help.  A plumber was brought in to fix the problem. Unfortunately, here in the Philippines toilets are cemented to the bathroom floor.  There was no "fixing" the clogged toilet; it would have to be removed and replaced. The Demolition Begins Bye, Bye Clogged Toilet! Once the old toilet was removed, a new, larger toilet was installed, with a larger drainage pipe. The New, Improved Toilet As you may be able to notice from the picture, it too was cemented to the floor.  We will have to wait a few days for the cement to harden before using it.  This means that we will have to use the backup, outdoor toilet: The Outdoor Toilet Ugh!  Trust me when I tell you that pooping here isn't nearly as fun as it looks! 

The Toilet at Lola's House, after Old Grump gave it a Workout I have a unique talent.  I am able to plug up ANY toilet known to man.  I must have incredibly dense poop! During our stay at the hotel in Manila, I plugged up the toilet.  Whilst we were still living in Macon, during our time at the high-end apartment, I plugged up the toilet.  During the eight years when we lived at the house on Ashville Drive, I frequently plugged up the toilet.  Whilst we were in the first apartment we lived in after our move to Macon, I plugged up the toilet.  During the years we lived in the condo in Columbia, SC, I frequently plugged up the toilet. Now bear in mind that these "plugs" were not always simple blockages resolved with the persistent use of a plunger.  Oh no!  These backups would sometimes require the use of a thick wire "snake", which would be worked down the throat of the toilet, and rotated to break up whatever was causing the problem. So it should come as no surp

Dodong and Sweetie relaxing in Lola's House After two grueling weeks of quarantine, and another day full of the irritations of traveling during the "plague", we finally arrived at our destination, Lola's house. We will have to quarantine yet another two weeks here, (drat!), but at least we are comfortable and at home. There are a few challenges we will have to face almost immediately.  First, Sweetie MUST get her dual citizenship ASAP, before Old Grump blows a gasket over this.  (We had planned on getting her dual citizenship during the summer of 2020, but stupid Covid intervened and shut down all the Philippines embassies.)  Next, we have to get lots of expensive dental work done on Kuya's teeth.  This means finding a competent orthodontist, which may require us to go to Ozamis, if not Cebu.   These two challenges we were expecting.  What we were NOT expecting was to be told there were rats in the attic, (the outside of the house isn't finished yet, so rats a

Dodong and Kuya at the Manila Airport Woo hoo!  In a series of actions almost as grueling as mating incompatible elephants, we have finally managed to relocate from Macon, Georgia to the Philippines.  Woo hoo one more time! Okay, our ordeal isn't complete yet, as we are stuck in a "quarantine" hotel until February18th, but at least we are now in the country we have been attempting to get to. This giant fustercluck of a trip began on 03/Feb/2021, when after multiple trips to the airport shuttle service to lug the mountains of ultra-heavy suitcases Sweetie felt compelled to pack, we turned in the keys to our apartment, returned the rental car, and watched as the shuttle service employees struggled to load all our bags into the shuttle.  Then it was off to Atlanta, where we spent the night in an expensive, crummy hotel near the airport.  (Poor Old Grump had to lug all those super heavy suitcases up to our room.  Ugh!) The Majority of Our Ridiculous Assemblage of Heavy Suitca