Sorry, I Spoke too Soon!!

Sorry to say the sun coming out was pretty short lived. Here it is, Monday morning July 31 and it's raining again. I heard there's another typhoon coming, not sure of its name yet.

Although, even if the sun's shining, Donna and I will be gloomy for the next couple of weeks at least. We had dinner at Herbs and Greens last night and we were greeted with, "Sorry Sir but we don't have salad tonight!" Their greenhouses are under attack with white flies and they'll be fumigating and they won't be able to serve veggies again till around the middle of August. Their 'non-salad' entree's are still pretty good though.

Ate Lynn called us last night at around 10:30 and she said there's someone who wanted to talk with us. Our friend Mary's in the country from Spain. I sent her an eMail the other day and I got an out-of-office reply. I thought she's in one of her Italian business trips. Her Dad, Tang Dolpo had prostate surgery. She'll be staying for about a week. They actually called from the site so we hurried up and met them and gave her a quick tour of the house. We told her to come back during the day time so she'll appreciate how much has been completed.

I'm posting this right now at an Internet Cafe here in SM. My pictures are in my lap top so I'll post some next time. We dropped off the Innova at the nearby Toyota dealer to have its oil changed. It'll take a couple of hours or so to finish, so I figured we'll run around the mall to kill time. Donna is having her hair fixed at a salon downstairs.

We found out yesterday that a friend and former barrio mate, Emy Dizon Melad has passed away. She's had bone cancer for the last few years. Her husband Kong Pepe took her to Germany a couple of years ago and I guess that treatment gave her a bit longer of life but I guess her time has finally come. She's only in her early 60's. Please say a little prayer for her.


RANDOM THOUGHTS and OBSERVATIONS ON A RAINY DAY

People here aren't too keen on safety yet. Admittedly I've lived in the States for the last 20 years or so and I tend to compare stuff. Most drivers wear safety belts now, some quickly buckle up only upon seeing authorities up the road, however. But since a lot of Jeepney drivers aren't really earning a lot of money to speak of, their vehicle maintenance is not really on the top of their list of priorities. One has to be really careful during night time driving. A lot of vehicles don't have their headlights on and if they do, they're usually on high beams. When I signal them, their low beam is only one head lamp. I think there's the mistaken notion that they're saving battery life if they don't turn on their lights. Worse, three wheelers (these are the bicycles with side cars) don't have lights at all nor reflectorized stickers and you can just imagine how difficult it is at night to see them, usually only after one's about 10 feet in front of you. Streets are usually dark here. There are some lamp posts but some of them are either burned out or covered up by the trees. Speaking of trees, there's several sections of the highway here with huge acacia trees on both sides. During sunny days, their shade provide great respite from the hot sun. It's like driving through a tunnel. But they have a few disadvantages, one of which I mentioned above. During the rains, when their branches get wet they have a tendency to break and fall on cars below, not to mention the havoc they wreak during a typhoon with high winds. Drunk drivers had better beware here. Hitting one of these trees is like running into a tank! I can never tell who has the right of way when I'm driving. Nowadays, I pretty much drive like everyone else, honking my horn constantly! There's no such thing as a slow lane and a fast lane. I observed that idea only applies on the expressways but not on regular highways. I think this is why I'm worn out by the end of the day. The only good thing about it is that I sleep it off and it gets me rejuvenated knowing I don't have to go to work in the morning, yey!!

Speaking of work, in the 60's through the mid 70's, before I left for the States, the only people vending stuff on the streets are those selling ice cream and popsicles, pan de sal and perhaps some baluts at night. The other day we saw a guy with a cabinet on his back. When I asked, Donna's niece Len said he's trying to sell it! Perhaps on installment. We've seen guys with carts selling bananas, someone on a three wheeler full of feather dusters, a couple of guys with folding mattresses, cots. You name it, you're liable to see someone hawking it on the road. I don't know how much that cabinet weighs but I can imagine, after a while it can weigh a ton. And he's taking the chance that no one will buy it and he has to carry it all day!!