There is nothing shocking about that statement, as she usually is, and I’m not saying that to garner Pogi Points. But over the years I’ve been wise enough pay attention to her. Remember the TV commercials for E.F Hutton Investment Firm: When they speak everyone listens…
A while back she had the trees trimmed (Read removed) in the neighbors yard, When the Typhoon hit on the 16th of July the other two trees on the far side came down and crushed the Sari-sari store. But have no fear the folks who ran it took off the week prior to the “PHOON” as the 5-6 guy is looking for them. His little motorcycle is patrolling the purok searching everywhere. (I know where they are.)
I have given up on repeating the names of typhoons in the Philippines and started using the date it hit lans since no two news media outlets refer to it by the same name why should I even try. This one was named Ram-a-lam-a-dong or Glenda or whatever the hell they want to call it. (The July 16th typhoon works for me)
In my purok there were roof tires and corrugated metal panels gone airborne, trees falling and power poles coming down. Plus we just found one of my two my satellite dishes went missing, the guy up the street was trying to sell it to the junkman (Or miner of precious metals) He (The junkman) brought it back to me but I said it’s trashed so let the guy have it, he needs the money more than I do.
My dwarf mango tree lost a lot of limbs and has been trimmed again. The reason it a dwarf tree is because Mayang has it trimmed after every storm, soon it will be a bonsai tree in my living room.
My incinerator lost its “Charlie Nobel” (A sailor term for a small smoke stack) I’m glad we found that right away as it’s made of stainless steel and wasn’t cheap to have made. Yes I have a metal “GUY” to fix that.
Twenty minutes after the “All Clear” notice went out; Mayang had seven members of our family cleaning debris from the top of the house to the front and back yard. Within three hours you couldn’t tell a typhoon had even hit, except for one empty satellite frame upon the roof. (We have a “Guy” for that too.)
We’ve been “5” days without electrify but my rebuilt Honda has been humming along keeping the two ref’s and the freezer cold. No A/C but since the sun is behind the low pressure clouds it’s not been needed and solar power would be quite useless. I remember that someone mentioned that they had no need for a generator and could tough it out, well maybe for a few hours but try it for (5 plus) days.
Many roofs around me were damaged and some are simply not there, I’ll assume the tires and sandbags on the roof failed. But once more the slab roof held firm, I hate to keep bring that up, but the damn thing works. Albeit I did have to remove a lot of missile hazards that had collected there such as two roof tires that we removed and put out by my gate so the owner could collect them.
So that was the extent of my typhoon on 16 July in my neck of the woods, I hope that all in the path fared as well, Manila went under water again, and my heart goes out to them once more as that is an ongoing tragedy that could be cured by proper use of trash removal instead of filling the streets and run off drains with rubbish.
Typhoon season is here, so please take care and stay safe.
Always love reading your post as i am theer about 4 months out of the year. For sure you did the right thing with the concrete roof!!!
Roger;
My contractor and I argued everyday about the slab roof; he explained how much, money and time I was wasting? But being the thick head I am I asked if I was ever late paying him, or was it his money I was spending?
When we were done he came to me and admitted it was a good idea and he would recommend it to others.
Old dog, new tricks.
Paul learned a lot observing and listening living in the Philippines, not sure about being “pogi”
Edgardo;
In my life I’ve learned many things, Pogi Points I can earn, whether I’m pogi or not (“NOT” being the operative word) (lol)
Glad all is well after the typhoon” visited” you, Paul.
More and more, concrete construction does sound as though its the way to go there, this coming from a guy that has never had to face much of a hurricane here in the states.
As much as I do hate to sometimes say it, wife’s are pretty smart, about knowing what to do ahead of time, to prevent what could become a potentially bad problem, like trimming or removing trees for instance.
Bill S;
I’ve reach the point in my life when I take what she says as Hoyle, I’ve seen her do things today, that didn’t make sense until a few days later. That is why I keep my mouth shut now.
I have a lot outside Olongapo (up in the mountain in New Cabalan) that I plan to build a 4-unit apartment to rent out. It definitely will have a concrete slab roof on it. 😀
August;
Just be careful someone doesn’t build a Nipa hut up there and start living there for free. (LOL)
I’m right up the hill from there; give a shout when you’re in town.
I must agree in your first statement: Your asawa is right! I have learned the same lesson, even my stubbornness have been a little hindrance sometimes. My asawa is very – very often right.
We had the pleasure of the typhoone of 16.july here too – or Glenda. It didn’t hit as hard as i can see on your good photos, here it took out 2 Malungay trees, that’s it. Our house is solid build, so no problem there. Sure it made a lot of mess around the area, but it’s cleaned up faster than the typhoon moves,
Quote: ” I hate to keep bring that up, but the damn thing works.”…. Nooo, you don’t hate to bring it up, you love to do it whenever possible. But – a good advice have to be repeated 🙂 It have worked so well that when we build a new house in Cebu, i will take your advice with me.
Really nice pictures, and as always…a well written post, that makes me smile.
Axel;
Hey Neighbor I’m happy to hear you also were not hit to bad, I was worried about your area as there is so much flat ground over there. That slab roof is also a great place to sit with friends and enjoy a cold one the rest of the year.
Good Job Senior Chief! As You Know , I had been toughing out the power outages prior to Visiting your area at the end of Feb this year. That changed when I returned to find that power was lost all over Mindanao and was not restored in my area for over 48 hrs. All perishable in my freezer and refrigerator was lost and prompted me to go shopping for a generator. I knew that a 5KVA gen would not do what I needed it to do and that Gasoline generators eat mega bucks in fuel compared to diesel so I decided to look for an over kill. I found a New 10KVA 24 HP diesel liquid cooled generator For about 70,000 P (30,00 p less than a new 5 KVA Gasoline model ant the local hardware store). Saved a month and bought that rascal!Since my house is breakered at 30 amps I knew that its 45 amp output would do what I needed it to do.As soon as I got the house wired for it I waited for the Next Brownout and made the final connections. I ran all appliances including A/C for the during the next 3 brownouts and after 20 hours of operation found I had burned a totl of 7. 5 gallons of diesel. A 50 PHP per liter I was elated to say the least! Now the power is always on, the beer always cold and the bar (in my house) always open!
Joe;
You could sell power to the purok at that size, 24,000 kilowatts of power. (One thousand kilowatts of power per each horsepower output). I’ll agree that diesel is the way to go, but in 1999 I was lucky to find a good brand of generator, (HONDA) and all they had were gas, my buddy has a diesel and loves it. So a good move on your part.
But now your problem is solved, have a cold beer.
I got hit directly here in Tagaytay about 4 hours before u with borderline 125 mph winds
Needless to say every furniture maker and fruit stand shack from nuvali to Tagaytay got clobbered
Three businesses that will profit
Junk haulers – charcoal makers – and furniture makers/ wood cutters
Business that loses money
Meralco
Cignal
Water company
My roof has typhoon dog bite – 30 edge tiles lifted because of cheap screws used
The gazebo I designed out back didn’t have one scratch
Just got power Sunday afternoon
Laundry and hot showers are a blessed thing eh?
Rick;
It is good to hear that your damage was minimal, all you can do is feel sorry for those hit the hardest. Here’s something I’ve noticed over the years. The power was off for a few days, but next month the light bill will be the same. How do they do that? Saturday afternoon, the truck with the new poles shows up, 3 hours later we had power.
Paul,
Like Rick above we also got a direct hit from Glenda. It was so strong that I thought the roof would disappear. Surprised there was no damage to the house except a few lamp covers from the fence blew off which we retrieved afterwards. What surprised me most is the Cignal Dish still being there. But we still don’t have any service until sometime later this week. Several trees as expected were down. Not a lot of damage to the houses. One powerline pole came down bringing down 7 more poles with it. Surprisingly they had new poles up and power on by Saturday evening. With no generator our food stayed frozen until Friday so we had to cook it or give it away. We live right across from Fernando Air Base so they had all there troops doing all the cleanup inside and outside the base. Could have been a lot worse for sure.
Randy; PapaDuck)
One dish came down and the other survived, so there is no predicting the outcome of any typhoon. All one can do is prepare the best one can and buy that generator, (You know you want one) (LOL) I’m glad you and Anne faired so well, stay safe.
Good to read that you and the other comenters here survived as good as you have described. If the Honda Generator kept you going for the 5 day power outage, there’s the proof of a quality repair by the generator “Guy”.
With so many brownouts and in this case a 5 day or more power out for some, I wonder if anyone there has given any thought to getting a “Servel” or equivalent ? Whats a “Servel” ? A refridgerator that operates by propane instead of electricity. They are still made and when I looked into it a while back I think they are available there in PH, although maybe under a different brand name.
” Your San Mig would keep well when chilled by Servel “
Bob NY;
I asked Mayang if she had ever heard of a Servel ref, and I explained it to her, she said that propane is so expensive the generator is cheaper to run. Plus the generator gives you lights and TV also. “Man can’t live on BEER alone!” (LOL)
Paul this my seem a silly question, but is there ‘homeowners insurance in Fil?
Gerald;
“Not a silly question at all”
Yes there is homeowners insurance, with deductibles starting at P2,000.00 on up, and if you shop around you can find some really good ones that still cover for “Act of God” Typhoons and flooding, and priced right. Also take a picture of items within your house and attach a dated receipt to it and file it in a fireproof safe (Also available here) as they will cover that too for you as part of the package. BUT you will have to show and prove the extent of the damage. And you will be reimbursed a prorated percentage. (Which is fair).
Good job with the pictures Paul and an interesting article. Bob in New York has a point. I don’t think the propane refrigerator would cost near as much to run as a generator and a refrigerator.
Loren;
Will that propane Ref lift that elevator to the top of Pogue Mountain? The generator will get you home and chill your beer. Propane is quite high here. So do you want to sit in the dark and dink Ice Cold beer, talk to Mrs. Pogue about that. (LOL)
Paul,
Nice post and pictures. I don’t have much to add. I’m a rookie. Just sitting here eating cheetos and chasing it down with iced tea enjoying the read.
Bill
Bill;
I like my Cheetos with Royal Crown Orange soda, soda pop, pop, or tonic. Whichever you call it by. But either way I know there are close to the top of the food pyramid. Keep chillin’ it’s good for you.
I don’t know Paul, this current generation of Bombays in the Philippines seems to be a heartless bunch. They weren’t always that way. I remember them from way back as a kid in Manila, long before they started making their rounds in their shiny, black Chedengs, if not on motorcycles as they are mostly seen today.
Turbaned and bearded and spoke fluent but accented Tagalog with a hint of garlic thereabouts LOL, they’d come to our house in Sta. Mesa decades ago, going door to door on foot, carrying on their shoulders bolts of fabric in different colors and patterns to sell. “Aling Turing”, they called Mom. Usually bedazzled by the Bombay’s glib talk that would put a used car salesman to shame, Mom would almost always buy material to make dresses for my two sisters. Whether my Mom bought on credit, or paid cash, I was to young to have noticed. One thing for sure, I don’t recall any Bombays coming around the house hounding my Mom for any overdue bills.
Today’s Bombay in the Philippines seems to be a cut of a different cloth (pun intended). There is a phrase in Tagalog that describes them: “Walang kalulwa at walang awa”. Soulless and having no mercy.
To have to submit without question to the punishment of a typhoon as a part of the financially-struggling Filipino’s existence is cruel enough, but for him to be hunted down in the aftermath of a devastating storm for a missed payment on a debt is the real tragedy of 5/6, in my opinion.
Hi John;
My Sari-sari neighbors “Bolted” (Another pun) about a week before the storm hit, they had been in arrears for some time.
But now the Bombay sell nothing, its loan sharking only now just coming by everyday to collect the vig (Interest)
Every failed small business seems to have a Bombay involved, they do pray on the poor. What a lot of my neighbors have never figured out is that the Bombay profit has been made long before the store owner runs away.
On every Navy ship in the past the 5-6 before payday program has existed for a century, learned while the ships were in Subic Bay and spreading to both the left and right coast Fleets.
Because of the LTO’s new helmet law enforcement, you seldom see the turbans anymore.