A week or so back Bob Martin made me an offer I really couldn’t refuse. He asked me to join the regular staff here at Live in the Philippines – The Web Magazine for Expats in the Philippines and those who want to join them!
I’m a bit busy to take on yet another writing assignment … I have quite a few online ventures “in the air” and most of them don’t involve blogging … blogs are great fun but they can be a stern mistress when it comes to the time involved.
But Bob has become a close friend and I noticed that some of the regulars here have had to stop or at least curtail their contributions so I’m glad to accept Bob’s kind offer and do my little bit to help keep this web magazine idea alive and well.
Bob also invited me because I live kind of at the opposite end of the Philippines from Bob’s delightful Davao City and we both feel a more diverse author base will help make this more of a Philippines-wide publication.
I’ll be writing about one article per week, more or less (in the legal world that means it may happen, but don’t hold your breath ;-)) I already submitted an article for the first edition of my “Northland” column but after I saw the excellent intro today from John Miele (welcome John) I decided I better introduce myself a bit as well.
I am an American born and bred male (New Jersey, originally) of 1945 vintage and unlike John and Bob I spend a lot of time avoiding that dreaded four-letter word, W*O*R*K. I put in 38 years and some months as an active duty member and later a civilian employee of the USAF where I had the opportunity to live a lot of years outside the US. After I retired from federal service in 2003 I worked a year as a marketing consultant for a small engineering firm and then my lovely wife Mita (also known as the Unofficial Cook) and I operated our own successful small business in the US, selling and servicing GPS tracking systems into the transportation industry. Running your own business, however, is harder than working for someone else, so in October of 2006 we sold up everything and moved permanently to the Philippines … we live in the town of Marilao, in Bulacan province, abut 25 kilometers or so north of Metro Manila.
We rent a small but comfy 3 bedroom house and are right around the corner from Mita’s parents, a prime reason that we selected this location. One of the joys of our lives are two young nephews who also live in momma and daddy’s house so we really enjoy interacting every day with at least three generations of family.
To keep myself occupied I blog regularly on Philippine-related topics at PhilFAQs . I pursue a number of other on-line interests and also enjoy daily walking, driving my Mitsubishi Adventure every chance I get to every location someone comes up with as well as reading, watching TV mostly the Discovery Channel and ESPN …(Go Yankees).
Mita an I plan to travel quite a bit, both inside and outside the Philippines and some of my other near-term goals include building a home here in Marilao, expanding and enhancing a small farming operation in Zambales province and teaching the boys how to play baseball (basketball bores me to tears, I marvel that baseball is now so uncommon here, when my parents-in-law went to school here in the Philippines (pre-WWII) very kid, boy or girl played small ball … every other former Spanish possession produces baseball stars, I really wonder if there isn’t a chance for the Philippines)..
Enough rambling. Let me know in the future if you enjoy my work, and more importantly if you don’t enjoy it … I’ll never improve without feedback. If there are any particular aspects of living in the Philippines you’d like me to cover, please lave a comment or you can contact me directly at: dave (at) philfaqs (dot) com. Looking forward to the new challenge.
Welcome to the team Dave
Hi Dave S,Welcome,looking forward to your future posts,regards Chas(UK)
hello dave
welcome to lip.nice to get some different views from different people.i also read up on philfaqs.
thanks dave
Hi Dave, I am also glad to see you here. I just know you from some comments. Looking forward also to read your posts. WELCOME fellow columnist! 😉 😉
Welcome and looking forward to your posts.
Ellen
Hi Dave,
Welcome! It's nice to see another avid baseball fan. If its the Yankees you like, you can watch them every morning on the Taiwan Channel. Every Yankee game is televised because the Yankee ace Wang is from Taiwan.
It is hard to find baseball teams in the Philippines, but they do exist. I played for and helped sponsor a team here in Mindanao, and I also helped the grassroots league get some used equipment from an American school I helped coach little-league at. There is a fairly serious mens league that plays out of Alabang in Metro-Manila, and there is a long-established high-school team at the American School in Manila.
Looking forward to your posts from Luzon!
Martin
@Martin: Thank you so much for dropping by and for your comments, Martin. Indeed I didn't know about those Philippine baseball activities you mentioned. I wonder who that Alabang team plays against?
I'm not sure we get a Taiwan channel … although I guess we do, my cable company isn't really advanced enough to give a decoherable list of qall the channels. NHK play excerpts of every game thta a Japanese player plays in, deep in the sports news, but virtually never in any of the English lanaguage programming. I just spoke to my wife on this and she doesn't think most cable companies here wud carry the game … there would likely be a significnat fee unless they got it 'bootleg'. I'll exlore further.
Let me know if there are any specific subjects you'd like me to focus on and I'll try to provide something of interest.
@Ellen: Hello Ellen, thanks for stopping by and for the kind words. I really think there should be a column here for RV'ers, both land and water based. You're one of the few readers who never had to worry about airline baggage allowances when you made the trip 😉
@Klaus: Thank you for the kind words, Klaus. It will be enjoyable to work with the rest of the team here, I am sure.
I sincerely hope your fencing/right of access situation comes to a speedy and equitable solution.
@Ron W: Hi Ron, thanks for the welcome and for the kind words. I'm hoping that I'll get some feedback on secific things that people want to learn about.
@CHAS: Thank you Chas, I look forwrad to being able to write some useful things here. I think Bob's idea to get voices from a wider areaof the Philippines can only help make the magazine stronger and more valuable. Don't get me wrong, I like Davao a lot, but there's way too much of the Philippines to confine things to any one city or even one main island.
@john: Hello John,m thanks for the welcome message. Looking forward to trying to contribute at somewhat the same level of some of the excellent work that has gone on here already.
Hi Dave
Glad to see you are going to be one of the contributors. I especially like that you are kinda on my side of town as I will be moving to Binan, Laguna soon. Also i am retired military as you are.
Dave I just reviewed your site Phil Faqs. I like it-very informative. You sir have just become one more reason for me to turn on the computer when time allows. Oh by the way go 'Brewers".
@George: Thank you George, looking forward to beingpart of a great team here.
@Ron LaFleur: Thanks for the kind words, Ron. I really struggle with PhilFAQS trying to keep a focus and make the information that is there already more accessible to readers.
I was just doing some housecleaning on my hard drive and I see there are more than a thousand files in my "Pinas" folder, many of them are worth uploading/writing about, so I don't plan to run out of ideas any time soon.
@Dan Mihaliak: Hi Dan, thanks for the welcome and yes, we won't be that far apart, will we. This is a good place, I feel, for retired military, one of the few places left in the world where the pension actually means something, and the RAO/VFW/American Legion organizations do a lot to make life pleasant.
Dave,
Welcome to the team. I have read a lot of your conversations with Bob and others. I got out of the Military in 02, currently working as a DOD Contractor. So I know where your coming from.
Regards and best wishes for your future in on-line business,
Mike K.
P.S. When I came to the Philippines in 2003 I spent about 6 months living in Marilao.
Hi Dave – Welcome to LiP. Looking forward to your posts here. I have paternal relatives all over Bulacan. My sister and her family lives in Marungko but our last visit there was in 2000. Once we move back to the Phils Jim and I will definitely find time to explore Luzon.
Welcome, Dave! Glad to be able to read your writing here. One thing: What is this Yankees of which you speak? Do they play some sort of sport? 😎
Of course it's easy to tease about sports when a person's alma mater does the whole Cinderella story thing and wins baseball's College World Series. 🙂
@Mike K.: Hi Mike K., Thanks so much for the warm welcome. It is a small world isn't it? Where were you in Marilao? Mita and I live in St. Michaels homes, where her family has been since the place was built somehting like 25 years ago. Strangely enough there is another former reader/contributor here abouts who also lived/perhaps still lives in Marilao … i haven't been able to track him down yet.
For those not famliar with the place it is just a little wide spot in the road, dawrfed by so many of it's neighbors that it amazes me that so many forigners have lived here. I guess it is just the way the pancit tangles, eh?
@Marilou: Thanks for the welcome, Marilou. Make sure you let us know next time you visit … the welcome mat is always out to LiP readers.
@Tom N: Actually, don't tell my mm I ever rooted for the Yankees … until they left Brooklyn she was the most devoted Dodgers fan who ever lved … when thye moved west she switched to rooting for any team who was beating _either_ the Dodgers or the Yankees … if she's looking down right now she isn't happy with me at _all_ LoL … sorry Mom, you know how it is, they're all that ESPN Asia seems to broadcast, what can I do? 😉
Dave,
Sorry for the late response. The net has been down here for a few days. I stayed for about a month in Johncis Lodge (forgive the spelling). I then had a small apartment not to far from the bridge going to SM. I would definitely say its a small world. 😆 Pancit tangles…I will have to remember that one.
Marilao is just as you said a wide spot in the road. I use to get so irritated 😡 at the traffic. They were working on the highway and all was well till you hit the bridge at the edge of town. It once took me an hour to get across town and that was on a bike…
@Mike K.: Not familiar with that Lodge you mention, if you have any thing around that could clarify the spelling address, do forward it to me … I am always looking for places where vistors could be put up and the selection around here is not good.
Yes the"down town" certainly backs up with traffic often, for little perceptible reason. From out house the Marilao NLEX interchange is closest, but we always "backtrack" a couple kilometers to the Meycauayan Interchange just be cause of the Marilao traffic. Strange indeed.
Dave,
The place I mentioned is on the right side of the road from Bucaue toward SM not to far from the bridge. I will try to contact my old buddy's in that area and find a good land mark for you. All I can remember at this time is its behind a karaoke and has several more across the street. ha-ha I was in a relaxing stage at that time as I had just completed back to back combat tours. So I didn't get out and look around until after I got the apartment.
@Mike K.: Thanks Mike, I'll take alook next time I'm out that way. I've already done my "SM trip for the day" but there's always tomorrow 😉
Hello Dave,
I have finished reading all of your articles and have found them to be a enjoyable read and down to earth way of writing.
Looking forward to reading more of articles in the future.
Steven
@Steven: Hi Steven, thanks for the kind words. As always,if there are specific areas you'd lke me to cover, drop me a note and I'll do what I can.