When in The Philippines…

Wow, its been a busy couple of weeks.  Lots of fun, some headaches and a new PET MONKEY!  Yesterday I had someone deliver a monkey to me and it didn’t cost me a dime toward the cost of the monkey.

Monkey Rescue

A member of this site and my sites knew I lost a monkey a year ago.  It appears one of the children in the area killed it. I’ll never be certain.  His name was George and he is irreplaceable.  Our new monkey is  not going to replace George.  Hopefully she will just add to it.  We are working on building her a monkey mansion  to keep her safe.  I’d be happy keeping her inside but we’ve already had one battle with the landlord over the issue.  I don’t understand why.  She only says homes are made for people, not monkeys.  Bah!  If it was causing harm, I’d understand but its not.

She is very afraid right now.  She’s also skin and bones.  She really has not been taken care of very well at all.  She was captured by a farmer and taken captive for stealing corn.  Then they fed it corn.    But just enough to keep her alive.  She’s been out in the elements chained to a bamboo pole for the last year.  When it rained, it rained on her.  She had no where to go.  Its probably a testament to her will to survive that she’s still alive.

She’s quite the handful, mostly because she’s afraid.  Its going to take some time to train her.  I say train because she’ll never be tame, she’ll always be wild but we’ll likely refer to her as tame.  We still have a bit of a way to go.with her.

Battle Of The Monkeys

There was a full fledged monkey battle in my bedroom today.  We let her out of her cramped cage and let her roam around with a short chain.  She didn’t want to let us get a hold of that chain.  She learned from the day before that if she lets us have the chain, we have control.

First my girlfriend, Jessie tried to grab it and the monkey charged her with teeth in full view.  The monkey doesn’t want to hurt anyone, she has done this several time.  It freaks Jessie out and scares the both of them.  The monkey already sees me as dominant, which is good but it also causes her to be fearful of me.  Dominant males can be real bullies in the wild.

When the monkey charged Jessie, it got my blood pressure up and I decided to have a talk with the pint sized monkey with a gallon of attitude!  She reminds me a bit of a Filipino.  That’s meant to be a compliment even though not all Filipino are small.  :I admire their feistyness.

I grabbed the chain and the monkey went ape!  Screaming at me while baring teeth, though it scared me enough to get me drop the chain, I too went ape.  I screamed back at it with the same sound, I didn’t even know I could make and gave her a face full of my teeth!  When in Rome do as the Romans, when you turn your bedroom into a monkey zoo, then I guess its time to act like a   monkey! Its a good thing I have a prescription for xanax. I was in need of some after our exchange.  The maids were soon asking Jessie if everything was okay.  She told them Rusty and the monkey had an argument!

Actually I learned from my first monkey that communicating on his level worked wonders.  One problem is, the face they make for a threat display with their teeth is very similar to a sign of submission.  It has to do with the teeth being open or closed and I can’t remember which is which.

Our new monkey has its canine or fangs and she can do a LOT of damage with them. When we first got her she was very thirsty.  We gave her water in a plastic tupperware like container.  She drank the water and she proceeded to bite a very alarming hole in the container!  A real eye opener.

I knew I had to prevail in this battle of wills today or I would forever be below her on the social scale and that would mean real problems down the road.  I must be able to control her.  For her safety and those around us.

Jessie being smarter than me suggested we throw a towel over her and then get the chain.  This too was a struggle but it worked.  The monkey is not stupid though.  She grabbed a hold of it and tried to hide it from us!  Finally we wrestled it loose.

Then we put a much longer chain on her so she wouldn’t be able to do that again.  I took her for a walk around the house.  Much too soon to take her outside on my walks yet.  Again, I don’t have control over her yet because she doesn’t trust me yet.

To work on that trust, we spent an hour or two with her, grooming her and she loved this so much that her skin quivered.  I doubt that she had this done to her in the last year.  This is the way to a monkey’s heart!

Some how she hurt her leg in the battle, which I didn’t understand at all at fist.  She was limping a bit and I thought she was hurt bad.  I think when I grabbed the chain she pulled back on it and I pulled back but its hard to remember what you did when you have a mouth full of teeth in your face!  I think that she held on tight enough that it hurt her rather than let go.  I didn’t pull that hard.  Well I don’t think so, I was shaking after we got control over her so I guess the adrenalin was pumping.  I already love this monkey and would be sick if I did anything to hurt he.  I have to wonder if she might have an old injury there.  I still don’t see how she got hurt.

I wish she would eat more, when we first got her she huffed down several yellow bananas.  Monkeys don’t really care for yellow bananas but she was hungry enough that she didn’t care.  She also ate bread, something else they are not overly fond of.  Today she’s not too interested in bread and even less interested in yellow bananas.  She ate some orange and some rice but she didn’t eat like I think she needs too.

I hope I can get her to a vet soon.  I don’t suppose anyone knows a good monkey vet do ya?    I’m pretty sure I know what I’m going to name her but if you’d like to add your input, please visit RustyFerguson.com to add your input.

I’m pretty excited about my new daughter….  Wish us luck!  I really want to give her a better life that what she’s had.  She’s been with people too much, I fear certain that if she were to be released she’d end up dead.  I hope to get her a companion.

The complainers

Last week, I invited a group of Filipino friends over to my house to sample some of my freshly roasted and brewed coffee.  I know that these people are serious coffee lovers, because I see them often in local coffee shops, so I decided to invite them over for some seriously good coffee!

We not only enjoyed good coffee, we also had some great conversation.  I know all of these people pretty well, and enjoy their company, although I don’t get to socialize with them too often because we kind of run in different crowds, and I am also older than they are, so the times we get together are really not often enough due to the circumstances.

During our conversation, one of the people was telling me about his new job, and that it involved a lot of interaction with foreigners.  He asked me if I know some of the people the he dealt with.  Indeed, I knew most of them, and I told him so.  He next said, “oh, you must socialize with these foreigners a lot.”  “No,” I replied, “I really don’t, because a lot of those people spend most of their time complaining about the Philippines.”  My friend confirmed that he had noticed that too, and asked me why that was the case.

I explained to my friend that I didn’t know why, but it is fairly common that a lot of foreigners, when they get together, basically complain about the Philippines for hours on end.  That is the reason why I don’t get together with these folks too much.  I don’t like to complain like that.  Yes, there are things about the Philippines that I could complain about, no doubt about that.  But, I choose to mainly focus on the positive side of the Philippines.  I mean, overall, I really enjoy living here, and why would I want to spend my time complaining about the place?

Another thing that I have noticed, before I even moved here, is that some of these same type of people who spend their time complaining about the Philippines, when they go home, they spend their time glamorizing the Philippines and complaining about their country of origin!  So, the only thing I can figure is that some people just have to complain, or they are not happy!

Why not look for the brighter side of life instead of watching for the rain clouds all the time?  It would seem that you would be happier with your life in general if you are watching for the good things instead of complaining about the bad.  Also, when you spend your time complaining about the Philippines in front of Filipinos, it really kind of gives a bad impression about foreigners to these Filipino people.  That makes us all look bad.

No mattet where you live, there are things that are not so good, which you can complain about all you want.  But, if you choose to talk happily about the good things in life, I think you’ll be happier overall.  And, you’ll make a good impression on the people around you too.

I love the Philippines, do you?

Travel tax from Cebu Pacific

I just want to let you the readers know of a problem I am having with booking a flight, and at the time of this article I have still not sorted it out or got a full explanation.

I have a tourist visa and every two months I pay an immigration fee and have my passport duly stamped and last year the rules changed so that I could be here not twelve months but up to 16 months without causing any problems, and as far as my dealings with immigration here in Davao I have no problems at all.

So my 16 months is up in June so I have booked a flight to Bangkok for one week and paid Cebu Pacific and went home pleased with the booking I had made. However, two weeks later I receive frantic phone calls and texts telling me that I have to pay a further p1600 tax and I cannot fly until I pay that. I asked the lady why I have to pay another extra tax and she told me because I had been in the Philippines for over one year   I am subject to such a tax, and not only was it to be paid but the company had deducted it from her salary as she had not picked up the charge when I made the booking.

I went to the office after making many phone calls that told me nothing and I asked the staff and people on the phone at Cebu Pacific why the charge was being put against me, was it related to the old immigration rules that I can only be here one year, the first answer was yes that was the reason. I then explained twenty times or more that the law had changed , even quoting the Immigration press release stating that it was 16 months now. Thirty minutes into the conversation after checking what I had said they changed the story and told me it was NOT related to my immigration status , but merely a tax for me to pay because I have been here over one year!

I asked if they could send me a copy of the rules related to that tax,they told me they cannot. I asked if they had ever seen the rules, they said they had not. I asked could I speak to someone who may have more information on the subject, they said they have not!!! I asked if they could send me details, they said they could not!

Don’t get me wrong I am very happy to pay the tax if it is to be paid, however I am convinced that they are working the old system and it is related to the immigration rules from last year. It seems to be unfair to tax people on a time they are in a place when all the immigration rules are being observed, and after all they are an airline company, why would they collect the monies surely I pay that to immigration when I get my exit visa stamped?

Sorry to say I cannot get pass “robotic” answers, does anyone have any more details on this subject?

Quagmire in Mindanao

The Government of the Philippines finds itself in a quagmire these days.  What is a quagmire?  Well, the definition of a quagmire is a difficult, precarious or entrapping situation.  Unfortunately, that is where the Government of  the Philippines sits at this time when it comes to the situation in Mindanao.  Of course, as I often say, the great majority of the Island of Mindanao is a safe place, but in selected areas, the island is very dangerous.  Right now, the dangers are amplified.

After years of relative quiet on the kidnapping front, Mindanao has once again become a hot spot for kidnapping.  It seems that people of all kinds are being kidnapped now too.  Foreigners, Filipinos, even people of relatively little means.

The culprits when it comes to the recent spate of kidnappings are once again the Abu Sayyaf Group.  You may remember some time back I wrote a series of articles about “The Dangers that Lurk” and said at that time that the Abu Sayyaf were the premier serious threat in the Philippines.  Unfortunately, my words are proving themselves to be true again.

The Abu Sayyaf is a group of terrorists who has been active for a little over 20 years now, but has become an extreme threat in the past decade or so.  The big-time threat from the Abu Sayyaf started back at the end of the 1990’s when they kidnappend a large group of people, mostly foreigners, who were staying at a diving resort in Sandakan, Malaysia, and then took the kidnappees to Mindanao and held them for months.  This was the first time that the Abu Sayyaf gained a huge payoff in exchange for hostages.  Since then, there have been a number of kidnappings engineered by the Abu Sayyaf Group against foreigners and Filipinos alike.  Many of these kidnappings have resulted in payments of millions of dollars to the terrorist group.

You know, when you give payments to terrorists in exchange for hostages, it only leads to additional hostage taking incidents whenever more money is needed by the terrorists.  And, of course, that is what has happened with the Abu Sayyaf.  In recent years, the Philippine Government, with assistance from the US Government had gotten to the point where the Abu Sayyaf had been nearly eliminated.  The group’s head had been killed several times over, only to be replaced continually be new leaders.  There was a point when the Philippine government had said that the Abu Sayyaf Group had been whittled down to less than 100 people, and that they would be eliminated within months.  The threat of kidnapping by the Abu Sayyaf had been virtually wiped out, with the group too busy running from troops to ensure it’s own survival, and without enough resources to mount a serious kidnapping effort.

However, in 2009, those days of having the Abu Sayyaf on the ropes and unable to take much action seem to be gone.  Instead, the Abu Sayyaf has carried out a number of kidnappings in Mindanao this year.  The most serious incident of kidnapping has been the case of three workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross who were ambushed and taken captive in Sulu in January.  The ICRC hostages include one Filipina and two European men.  The Abu Sayyaf group has now issued a deadline that one of the Red Cross hostages will be beheaded on either March 30 (today) or March 31 (the deadline date varies depending on the report) if the Philippine Government does not move troops away from the area where the Abu Sayyaf is holding it’s hostages.  In addition to the ICRC hostages, the Abu Sayyaf independently holds at least three other hostages in Basilan Province, three Filipino teachers who were kidnapped in Zamboanga City in February.  Over the past weekend, there were widespread reports that one of the kidnapped teachers had died in captivity, although the Abu Sayyaf denies this.

So, there is a quagmire.  What is the Philippine Government to do?  If they pull troops back, they are basically relinquishing to demands of the terrorists and giving them free reign of the area in Sulu where they are holding hostages.  If they don’t pull back, one of the ICRC hostages may be beheaded.  The threat of beheading should not be taken lightly, as the Abu Sayyaf has beheaded many captives in the past, and it seems to be their favorite way of showing they are serious.

Honestly, the Philippine Government has had plenty of opportunity to kill the beast called the Abu Sayyaf over the years.  Unfortunately, they always play the same game that they play in almost every problem – when they have the beast on the ropes, they let up on it and focus on other issues instead of finishing off the problem.

At this point, in my view, there is only one thing that the Philippine Government can do, and that is an all out war against the Abu Sayyaf.  If the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) cannot handle the problem, I am sure that the United States would be more than happy to assist in the elimination of the Abu Sayyaf. 

But, if the Government goes forward with an all out attack on the group, won’t it result in the death of the ICRC captives? It likely will, and I feel bad about that, but it’s time to show some backbone.  Get serious, once and for all.  The fact is that these ICRC workers were warned not to go to to Sulu without military protection, and they refused it.  So, they bear some of the fault for their situation.  If the hostages die in the attack, there is nobody to blame except the Abu Sayyaf who is lawless and frankly sickening.

It’s time now to get serious.  The government of the Philippines cannot back down and basically show terrorists that Mindanao is up for grabs by competing terrorist groups.  The time to end lawlessness is now.  Let’s get on with it.

Watch Out! Creep!

Now I know what many of you are thinking, but I am sorry, this article is not about exposing unsavory individuals or catching trouble-makers in the act. Instead, this article focuses on recurring expenses and how they tend to creep up on the owners of small businesses. Small business owners in the Philippines need to watch out for many of these expenses that creep upwards over time, because they really do eat away at cash flow and this can come as a shock to your bottom line when you least expect it.

Most small business owners start out on the right track. They watch their input costs like a hawk, and because funds are limited, costs are kept well in line so that the business can try to break even or turn a small profit. But later on, when a small business is established and cash flow becomes more predictable, many small business owners stop to take a breather. This isn’t a bad thing. In the early stages of the business’ existance, survival is paramount. But many also fail to realize that cost containment is something that needs to be battled against from day one.

Sadly, there is little glamour attached to the task of containing upward creeping costs. But this is one task that falls squarely on the shoulders of every small business owner. If small business owners fail to stay on top of costs that creep up over time, their overall profits will surely suffer, and this can greatly affect any future expansion plans or the ability to survive any downturns in the economy that may occur in the future. The task must be taken on by the business owner, as very few employees will actively look for ways to lower costs — most compensation systems are instead geared towards expanding sales, which is perfectly fine. The point is that it is the owner who should take on the responsibility of keeping in check as much as possible any costs that are trending upwards without good reason. The owner’s compensation is of course linked to sales growth and expenditure reduction wherever this can be achieved and without negative consequences to the business overall.

Business costs can be lumped into three broad categories — sunk costs, fixed costs, and variable costs. Sunk costs cannot really creep up on you, because they are generally associated with start-up costs that need to be accounted for up front — for example, construction and renovation costs, essential equipment purchases, fees paid to various licensing bodies, etc. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful with sunk costs and have an eye for keeping start-up costs in line with your start-up budget. You need to monitor these costs closely, but they are not costs you can watch each succeeding month to see if you can find cost savings. Fixed costs are recurring monthly costs that you cannot really impact either — you can’t change what you must pay in basic payroll every month. Nor can you decide you’ll simply pay the electric company less than what is owed or remit fewer taxes than you have collected from customer receipts. Fixed costs are a cost of doing business. Where small business owners need to pay attention in each and every month following opening is in the area of variable costs.

Variable costs are those costs that can fluctuate every month. The easiest way to look and see if any costs are creeping up faster than they are budgeted for is to simply look at and account for all monthly expenses. When it comes to actual expenses made by those who are employees, there is a real need for business owners to check extra carefully. Employees generally aren’t evaluated on how much they save the business. It is human nature to over-order supplies. Nobody wants to lose out on potential sales or commissions because of lack of stock or inputs. However, inventory management is critical to maintaining healthy cash flow. Small business owners that can prevent the upward creep in costs associated with oversupply will have a much easier time maintaining a positive cash flow.

Another area where small business owners in the Philippines can look out for upward creeping costs is in determining whether or not some expenses that were initially considered ‘extravagant’ or ‘pricey’ have over time become common or worse, essential. It takes constant attention on the part of small business owners to impart the need to remain prudent when it comes to expenditures. One way to stop the upward creep of costs in this case is to implement strict rules when it comes to purchases above a set amount. Either have employees get approval from the small business owner first, or have a rule that stipulates reimbursement of expenses above a set amount can only be claimed if justified, with the decision on whether to accept the claim being up to the owners discretion only. This usually forces employees to pay greater attention to controlling their urges to overspend on non-essentials but also gives them the flexibility to provide proper customer service in extraordinary situations that sometimes crop up.

Good luck in watching out for creeping variable costs in your small business. It is a thankless task being vigilant against waste and extravagance in any business organization, but failing to do so is an even greater extravagance that must not be left unchecked.

Cell Phone Use in the Car

The topic has been discussed over and over: Driving a car in the Philippines! I am still glad, to have my own driver. It’s not because I am too lazy or too afraid. Of course, not! Being a holder of an International Driver License I used to drive myself in many countries of the world – even in Mexico or South Africa…   But never in the Philippines! Don’t get me wrong – I just enjoyed to have the privilege to lean back – and, somebody else will take care of the traffic.

It happened last week.  A blue Pajero in front of us became slower and slower.  Almost 20 meters away from the signal light the Pajero stopped. When we tried to overtake, the Pajero became faster again – couldn’t stop and bumped at the signal light. The Pajero’s driver went out of his car – still holding his cell phone continuing a call… .

Such incidents happened at any corner during the last months and weeks. I must say, even not driving myself, i really got mad about it.

It might be too good to become true:

Motorists in the Philippines will soon be prohibited from using their cellular phones while driving. The House Committee on Transportation has decided to consolidate and endorse two bills seeking a ban on the use of mobile phones by motorists while on the road.

Prohibit the use of mobile phones for making and receiving or sending text messages or calls while driving in the Philippines? This is already law in many countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, France, my home country Germany, Greece, Taiwan, Turkey, South Korea – just to mention some among many others… .

I really wish that this becomes true very, very soon in the Philippines. Of course, motorists using a cell phone while driving are in fact four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure or kill themselves, their passengers and other people.

Buying “Palayoks”, “Pugon”, and “Kalans” in Iguig

When you travel North from Tuguegarao, you reach a small town, after 20 km or so, named Iguig. What’s in Iguig? Well, not much: An old church; a Petron station; a few carinderias and sari-sari stores, and…. A few dozen pottery makers with stands along the side of the road. Like most towns in the Philippines, Iguig comes under the “One Town One Product” focus of the government, encouraging local people to produce a single product. Now, there are many advantages and disadvantages to this program. The advantages are primarily related to economies of scale, with many makers sharing resources, such as skills or government assistance. So, in Iguig, there are people who learn the skills from one generation to the next, similar in many ways to the mediaeval guilds in Europe. The disadvantages are primarily that you have many makers of the same product in a single location, thus driving the local prices down. Now, this benefits you, the consumer, when you happen to need a specific good. It also lets certain regions become “known” for high-quality products of a certain type. Thus, when driving anywhere in the Philippines, or visiting a local palengke, you will see many stands offering similar goods.

My mother-in-law needed some pottery for the shed out at the fish ponds. So, Becky and I stopped in Iguig on one of our many trips between Abulug and Tuguegarao. What did we buy?
10 Palayoks: A Palayok is, quite simply, a clay cooking pot. They come in various sizes, from one that can only hold perhaps ½ litre all the way up to jugs that could hold 100 litres! We bought several sizes. Small ones for making Pinakbet (Ybanag vegetables stewed with bagoong), medium ones for cooking rice (you place the rice and water in the pot, cover it, and place it directly on the fire…done in 20 minutes), large ones for making native chocolate (the cacao is roasted and ground by hand in the same pot), and two 100 litre jugs to hold drinking water (The clay keeps the water naturally cool… This is really true, even when it is hot outside. There is no running water at the ponds, so all drinking water must be stored.).
Bricks for my mother-in-law’s pugon. Still to be built, she wants a pugon, a traditional oven for baking bread (Pandesal). We bought the bricks, but didn’t take into account that we needed to expand the dirty kitchen’s hut first. So, they are sitting there waiting until we do so.
4 Kalans. A kalan is a native charcoal grill (stove), that is made of clay, and comes in many different sizes. They look a little like a hibachi, but are often quite large. They are made for using charcoal, or a different style for wood. They last for years, and are made from solid clay. Since they primarily use wood fuel in Abulug, those are what we bought. Two each for the house and fish ponds, one to hold a wok (There is a little circular ring at the top that fits the wok bottom directly over the fire) and one that holds a wire rack for grilling.
Also note that the pot makers will make just about anything for you if it can be made of clay. The potter we bought from wanted to make us a bird bath, fountain, and bench for the garden… Perhaps another day. Total cost of all the above: 1,700 pesos!
A picture of the potter and his stand:

Oops! American thinking!

The other day I wrote about how two of my kids will be starting high school in a couple of months.  My oldest son is already 17 years old.  I have another son who is turning 9 years old today too.  So, as my kids are growing up quickly, over the past couple of years, Feyma and I have been starting to think about our lives after the kids move on to life beyond our household.

I mean, think about it.  One kid who is 17, two entering high school, and another who is nine.  The two entering high school will be in college in the blink of an eye, just 4 years from now.  It’s hard for me to believe, but my days of having kids in the house are fading away now.  We all get older, I guess, and there is no avoiding that.  Well, there is one way to avoid getting older, but I’m not ready for that either!

Part of thinking about my changing lifestyle in the not-to-distant future also is the state of the world economy.  In the past, I’ve lead a life of plenty.  Pretty much, if there was anything I desired, I had it, or got it.  Nowadays, though, the world is different.  I have a desire to change my lifestyle, live with what I need instead of always having what I want.  So, I have decided that I could be quite comfortable with a smaller house, fewer “things” to complicate life, etc.  I mean, when you see a lot of people going from being very well-to-do to being poor almost overnight, you start to feel that it’s better to live a simple life.  I feel that I could be quite happy with fewer complications in life, and just enjoy the simple things in life.

So, as I have been shifting my thinking to this simpler lifestyle, plans for my post kids-in-the-house days have been going through my mind.  The other day, though, a little light bulb went off in my mind:

Wait: You are engaging in American-thought!

What?  American thought?  Yes.  As an American, it is expected that when kids finish up their education, they will move on and start their own life.  They will get jobs, move out of the family home and go out into the world to make a go of their own life.  That is what has been in my plans.  Maybe within 10 years, there would be no more kids in the house.  But, the other day that light bulb lit up brightly in the recesses of my mind.  I live in the Philippines.  Things don’t work like that here in the Philippines!  I mean, usually kids don’t leave the family home until they marry, and if they don’t marry, they might continue to live with their parents indefinitely.

So, I am an American, and having my kids stay in the house well beyond their schooling is outside my culture.  But, my kids are growing up in the Philippines.  Why would I think that they will adapt the American culture when it is just as likely, possibly more likely, that they will adapt the Philippine cultural norm.

I admit, I think I would be more comfortable with the American norm when it comes to how long my kids will live with me.  Don’t take me wrong, I love all of my kids very, very much.  However, culturally, I am more comfortable with spending my older years with just Feyma and living a slower life, enjoying each other and just keeping everything simple.  Am I wrong to feel this way?  Honestly, it does make me feel a little guilty.  I don’t want to push my kids out, but I am not sure that I would be prepared for them to live under my roof well into my golden years either.  It’s hard to decide what the right thing to do is.

I suppose that the best thing is to just go with the flow.  Perhaps my kids will feel the American side of their heritage and want to go out on their own.  Perhaps they will marry at a relatively young age, and thus it doesn’t matter which side of their heritage they choose to follow.  It’s hard to know.  I suppose I’ll just play it by ear.

Any thoughts?

As a sidenote, I’d like to wish my youngest son a happy 9th birthday today!  Jared, you are a good boy, and I am very proud of you!

Blackout again and again!

Whats going on with Davao lately? Ever since Thursday until yesterday blackout (we call it here brownout) twice a day. It’s early Wednesday here so maybe later it will have another blackout again. I am also wondering if its in Davao and a little bit in GenSan only. I spoke with my sister when we had our first blackout and she said they also had blackout. It’s really annoying. I never heard any advisory on TV or radio about it. I don’t know if they did and we just didn’t see and hear it. Before they usually give an announcement and the details even on TV and radio AM/FM and newspaper too, but this time I didn’t see one.

The thing also in our subdivision, our next door neighbor often has power when we don’t have. Maybe they experience the blackout too this time. In the past they are okay when we don’t have power. They are on a different line than us. I guess we are on the line with the commercial places on F. Torres Street and Bajada area (this is the place where most of the coffee shops and restaurants are located). So, we are the ones that have blackouts most of the time. Somehow our next door neighbor isn’t connected to the same circuit and they have power most of the time.

I hate when its blackout especially during night time. As you know a lot of crimes happen then. We have to be on the lookout then too. We always hear stories about somebody climbing (akyat bahay) over the fence and getting anything they could inside the house. Some even murder the homeowner and the people inside.  When its brownout its good to lock all the gates and the doors. That’s what we do now. I haven’t heard of any gangs here in Davao. But you’ll never know. I saw some graffiti on some walls here but I don’t really know if its from somebody who just wants to write something. As always just stay safe.

Last Friday I went to Aaron’s school.  They had program for the kids who will receive some awards. The program started at 12:30pm. Just right when the program started everything went dead. The person next to me immediately said “brownout again.”  I think it lasted for 30 or so minutes. The staff didn’t anticipate this brownout so we waited for them to put the karaoke machine that uses batteries so that they can use the microphone so the program may continue. It took them like less than 10 minutes to change, the only thing, it was hard to hear the person talking on that microphone. Everybody was really glad when the power was back again. For one we can hear the program better and the big fan was going again! With so many people the fan is not enough. Luckily its an open air area where the program was, so at least some air was flowing. I am not used to bringing a small fan (Paypay) like a lot of the ladies in the Philippines are bringing in their purse. I’m so glad it was over in 2 hours because I was  already sweating.

It would be a week tomorrow since its been brownout everyday. I hope that its going to be better soon. I think people are getting tired of this. When calling the power company the operator will just say that all circuit are busy now. I’m pretty sure that people are calling them and asking whats going on? When we had the brownout again today I called up my sister too and its also brownout in GenSan. It must be the whole Mindanao thats brownout everyday?

What do you think Mindanaons?

Wow, I just realized something

Did you ever have a time when something that is a sort of important fact went unnoticed, and then it just hit you? That just happened to me!  I just realized something that I had not thought about before, and it is something kind of important too.

In my life, I have moved around a lot.  I have lived in a lot of different locations around the USA, and the world.  For the past 9 years I have lived in the Philippines.

What I just realized is that I have lived in Davao for longer than I have lived in any other place in my life!  I guess that makes me a real Davaoenyo.

Let’s have a look:

I was born in Port Townsend, Washington, and I lived there for 2 years.
Next, we lived in Los Angeles, California for 2 years.
After living in LA, we lived in South Africa for the next 2 years of my life.
Upon returning to the USA, we lived in Clatskanie, Oregon for 5 years.
We next returned to living in Los Angeles for about 3 1/2 years.
After leaving Los Angeles, we lived in Franklinton, Louisiana for 3 years.
I next lived in Bozeman, Montana for 1 year.
Next, I lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for 2 years.
Next, Angie, Louisiana for 1 year.
Next, Walker, Louisiana for 2 years.
Next, Clark County, Washington for 2 years.
Vancouver, Washington for 2 years.
Back to an unincorporated area of Clark County, Washington for 2 years.
Ridgefield, Washington for 7 years.
General Santos City, Philippines for 2 years.
Finally to Davao City, Philippines for 7 years.

Whew!  That’s a lot of moving.

I knew that I was getting close to having lived in Davao as long as anywhere else I have lived in my life, but didn’t realize until just a while ago that I have already reached that milestone!