Crabby Old Bastard

  Another Sunny Day in "Dry" Season Culture shock!   I've already written about how wet it is during "dry" season here, so I won't bore you by complaining about that again.  (Welcome to the jungle, Old Grump!) Cash flow has been an unexpected problem.  I'm amazed, (and disgusted), with how difficult it is to transfer money to myself from MY OWN BANK ACCOUNTS, but I believe most of the troubles originate back in the USA.  Besides, this has been such a time consuming hassle that I should write a post dealing solely with this irritating topic.  (Hint: the long term solution may be to use cryptocurrency, bypassing the over-regulated U.S. banking system.) The real culture shock for me has been drastic, (to me!), differences in what is considered proper hygiene.  For example: Dodong and Kuya at the Swimming Pool We recently went to another "spa", where anyone who wanted to could swim in the very cold water.  The kids liked it, and there were sever...

Working on the Road Yesterday folks here got tired of my bitching-and-moaning about the horrid condition of the access road and driveway here, so Sweetie paid for some gravel to be delivered, and the neighborhood guys pitched in to help spread it over the muddy ruts. If you remember the prior post, ( A Very Wet Dry Season ), when it rains our driveway turns into a gross mess.  Well, I am very pleased to report that the driveway has been improved, at least temporarily: Our New and Improved Driveway I don't know what will happen to this gravel once the torrential rains of true Wet Season start, but at least this is a much needed temporary improvement.  (I even helped spread some of the gravel across the driveway!) Long term I'd like to put a cement path/patio outside the kitchen door, and cement paths to both the front door and the dreaded outdoor CR, (or at least stepping stones), but I understand that progress here must be incremental.

"Dry" Season at Our House Currently where we live it is supposedly Dry Season.  I add the word "supposedly" because ever since we arrived here there have been rainy days, and the past few days have had torrential thunderstorms. Of course the unpaved driveway becomes a series of mud puddles when it rains.  The access road that we take to get to our driveway is even worse.  At the best of times it is a bone-jarring series of humps and dips.  With the addition of a liberal quantity of water it becomes a quagmire capable of being navigated only by vehicles with four wheel drive.  (Or four legs!) Our Muddy Driveway But not all has been doom-and-gloom.  A week ago, during a day it did not rain, we traveled to a "swimming resort".  The water was beautiful, but very, VERY COLD.  Despite the heat of the day, I could only stay in the pool for a few minutes. Beautiful, but Frigid Water Now that I am here in the "tropics", I wish I had brought more long sl...