It’s just like Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) from the Karate Kid movie years ago with his Wax on Wax off, exercise from that movie I’m feeling like the kid waxing the car; only I’m starting the generator over and over again, just about every single day and sometimes twice a day we’ve been experiencing brownouts. When they occur it is always a surprise, and we all know, how I love surprises. As I mentioned last week, my daughter and grandson are living at the house and I’m inclined to fire up the old Honda Generator just for them.
One would think it couldn’t happen, for the power to be going out during the hardest pounding rain, and they’d be wrong. The house will go dark, my computer will shut down and I’ll lose all I was doing, my UPS; well, it blew out last week because of all the outages and surges, and I’m soaking wet from the trip to the backyard, each time the power goes off and comes back on. I wonder if I could teach Coco the Flying Labrador to do that? We’ve also as an added benefit, ran through all our spare florescent bulbs that tend to blow each the time the world goes dark.
If it was just Mayang and I at the house, we’d just go upstairs and take a nap; we save many liters of gas that way. Plus it’s fun. But the baby is getting used to daytime/nighttime and we certainly we don’t want to confuse him, or he’ll keep us up all night, because we upset his internal clock.
My friends have told me that in 2012 the need for generators has passed, and they are so right, (“chuckle laugh, and chortle”). So during brownouts I call them and asked what they’re doing. I get a lot of hang ups or outright cursing directed towards me. For the life of me I can’t understand the why of it.
I’ve told this story in the past, but for our new readers I’ll tell it again. We had just built our house, and I was going back to sea. I gave my wife one thousand dollars extra and asked her to buy a generator and have it hardwired into our house’s electrical system. I’m gone a month and during a phone call from Japan or Guam I asked how life was going. Whereas she started telling me a tale about the typhoon that hit a week before and knocked out the power for 8 days, Honey all the foods was spoiling in the ref and freezer and it all had to be cooked and or thrown away. I asked if there was a problem with the newly installed generator, when the line went silent. Then a very quiet voice told me that she had a dining room set made at the woodworkers shop, and had used the generator money.
I know she was waiting for some harsh words from me, but then that’s not who I am, I was smiling when I told her that when I got home I would take care of getting us a generator, and in the meantime during the next brownout she could just plug everything into the dining room table. For years afterward if anyone complemented on her dining set I just said; “Oh, the generator, you mean?” then tell the story. Mayang has since informed me that it was just not very funny, and I should stop. Spitting into the wind, as I’ve said is something I just don’t do (She doesn’t read LiP) so I stopped.
Last Friday night I went to sleep lulled by a pounding rain, at 02:30 Saturday morning I awoke I thought to thunder, of which there was plenty. But it was the noise between the thunder and rain that woke me. It was my neighbor pounding on his gate with a rock and trying to out yell the thunder, requesting his wife to let him in. It turned out that he had earlier on Friday taken some of the rice money and went out with the boys for cocktails and karaoke, and it seems that our local Karaoke Lounge also employs Hoochie Mama’s for your dining and dancing entertainment. Upon returning home during a torrent of rain, over served, and broke. He felt the need for a dry place to sleep. His wife was of a different mind, and was of the belief that a fitting punishment would be for him to wake up in a puddle the next morning. Albeit I can see her logic, I must remain on the side of man. When I voiced that to Mayang, I got this strange feeling that I might be spending the rest of my night sleeping in another location. Solidarity with my fellow males soon gave way to self preservation of Paul, as over the years I have grown fond of me. That period of the night having ended with the departure of my neighbor to parts unknown, I raised my fist to the air and mumbled; “I feel your pain, brother!”
Mayang asked; “What did you say?” I with quick thinking pointed out that we were in the middle of an all night brownout Oh thank you PINELCO; for I had just dodged a bullet. At 05:00 I awoke and fired up the Honda, while shouting out to the heavens; “Good Morning Bataan, and let there be light.” (Plus power for my coffee maker)
So for twelve years the old Honda generator has provided needed power to the Thompson household, and has caused the house to fill up in the evening with nieces and nephews who want to watch TV, charge their cell phones or just don’t like sitting in the dark. I can’t say as I blame them.
The downside is that the Man Cave, my Sanctum Sanctorum is out of bounds during generator operation, due to carbon monoxide and it being a hearing hazard area. With everything in life, there’s a trade off.
PS; To those of you that live in the most perfect part of the Philippines, Mindanao, I’ll just add Blah, Blah Blah while singing KUM-BY-YA songs.
So I guess i’m going to have to have to improve on my inventoiry of shacker flashlights….LOL….. 247 hours till wheeks up…. the weather reports im reading say that it should be sunny and warm when we get there!
Mitch;
It’s still stormy today, but the power is still on. They sell a rechargable light with a fan attached. Just enough to get you to sleep on a hot night when the power is off.
Really? I gotta find one of those. We have brownouts occasionally at our house in Mindanao. In fact, the first night I arrived at our newly built house, power was out. No flashlights yet at that time. Wife and I banging around all night in the dark, I think I pissed in the closet once, who know? That was about 5 years ago and I still have not put in a generator. Oh yeah, we have nice dining room set et all, but my generator? Out of stock at my household.
Rovineye;
Ace Hardware sells them. I get the sense that you feel you don’t need a generator. That is what you’re saying isn’t it?
Oh no. I do need a generator. It just hasn’t climbed up the priority ladder, even tho I have set aside funds for it. Much like your table. My generator has taken the form of sala set, marble bar (OK that was worth it), new fence, gates, et all…. We just finished the bridge over troubled water to get a road to our house, so I know a vehicle will trump the generator again this Nov visit. A battery fan a liter of rum will get me thru a warm night.
Rovineye;
I’ll admit the generator was one of the last things added to our house, so your priority ladder makes perfect sense to me. Rum trumps all else!
A marble bar? I do like the way you think!
For years I had a farm off the electricity grid in Australia. I used a generator for running the washing machine, dish washing machine and vacuum cleaner (all energy hungry motors). Of course, we would usually do a load of clothes washing and some vacuum cleaning at the same time as washing a full load of dishes. At the same time the generator would charge a bank of (ex Cell Phone base station) batteries.
Through an inverter, I could run household lights, TV etc for up to 2 weeks, before re-charging again. We used a gas refrigerator and cooking.
With an auto switch, you could switch to a battery backup for lights and TV etc every-time there is a ‘brown-out’. You would not need to worry about starting the generator. Or, if you do not want a battery back-up, you could have an auto switch and electric starter on the generator.
wheels up
Mitch;
Wheels up is a good thing, but wheels down is a better thing.
Hi Paul,
Its a good thing your wife doesn’t read this. LOL. I agree with you that everybody needs a generator even just a small one.
Here in Mindanao, just last month we are experiencing 3 hours of black out..whew..and the schedule SOCOTECO(that is our provider) is not giving us the right schedule but going on the positive side right now blackout just went down from 3 hours daily to 1 hour every other day.
Cyril;
Our power here in Bataan is fairly stable other than during the rainy season. This year we’ve gone months without a power outage. But being close to the Holy Land (Mega Manila) when they lose power ours is diverted to them, for they are far and above more important than us. Because of the storms and the flooding for the last 30 plus days we’ve lost power almost every day for 4 hoursor more. Saturday I had to go and buy 20 gallons of gas to replace what I’ve used this month. The odd thing is even with the power being off so much, my power bill was the same?
I would recommend a set of batteries and a AC-converter. Environment friendly, silent and manages most of shorter brown outs if managed right and remain charged. Could also be combined with solar panels at next level.
Thats the one plus of living in a condo. Most have generators that kick in when the power goes out. Everytime the lights flicker, I figure the power must have been interupted.
Keep dry, seems likes its been 3 straight weeks of rain in Luzon.
Don;
Wow condo living sound like someone trained my dog to turn on the generator. (lol) I lived in a Condo for years in Puerto Rico and I enjoyed someone else doing the generator for me also.
I’m dry inside here on the mountain in Bataan, but outside is a horse of a different color. It still raining going on the 4th week! I’m tired of it!
very funny story although I can feel for you when the city goes dark. that must suck. you knew the right way to handle the situation with your wife and her new dinette set. sounds like a parent tactic. but her actions might have been a little on the childish side i would say. heres an example of what i would call parent tactic… many years ago when i was a single mom of 12 and 15 year old sons, we headed out one saturday evening for the city to attend a bridal celebration of my neice and her new husband. we stopped at the target store to pick up a simple wedding gift and I was going through the check out when i was approached by my 15 year old son(whom I thought had already gone to the car) and a strange man. My son proceeded to tell me he got stopped leaving the store with some fishing tackle in his coat pocket. After finalizing my purchase I met with a policeman outside the store who told me they would be taking my son to the police station for booking and it would be best if i follow them there. After two hours of questioning and paperwork he is released to me and we continue our trek to the wedding celebration. When we got there, family members approached me and told me how worried they were about us and so glad to see we arrived there safely. well, i am so ashamed and embarrassed at my son for his actions I just wanted to crawl in a hole and hide and he had already ruined what should have been a very festive evening. but my parent logic told me it was my son who did the stupid thing and not me. He had been taught better than that at an early age and at 15 it can be a lot more difficult to execute adequate punishment. so I piped up and told everyone who would take a minute to listen to me why we were late for the party. ofcourse i had my son at my side during every explanation for our tardiness. we got some looks and I think some members of my family did not agree with my tactics to humiliate my son but you know when you could be facing looking through the bars at your adult thug son someday, it seemed pretty mild punishment for what he might have faced later. my son told me he was so glad i humiliated him into seeing the seriousness of his mistake so he would not do that again. I know that story has nothing to do with generators or brownouts but a little embarrassment for your wifes wrong decision was a good tactic and a lot more gentle on the martial relationship then losing your cool would have been. thanks for the article. i enjoyed it and it brought back memories of my parenting years.
I agree Donna, it’s a great way to teach a lesson to your son. And a little humiliation goes a long way! Glad he turned out ok.
Donna;
It appears that Scott and I agree that you did the right thing. I’ve found that raising your voice in anger solves nothing in the long run. With my kids my famous look of disappointment seemed to carry more weight with them. My daughter once asked me why I don’t get angry and shout when she has seen the parents of her friends do it. I was put into supervisory positions early in my Navy career, and always figured the guys who worked for me were men, or were trying to be. So I treated them with respect but losing their night on the town and not getting off the ship in Barcelona Spain was a good enough lesson. I once told an Officer who was yelling at me that I would come back when he had control of himself. A trip to the Captain resulted, but the Captain thought I was right and I only had to stay on the ship for one week.
If I’m following the weather reports and they are correct, the rains around Olongapo should let up this Thursday, and be good and sunny for more then a week…… Hopping to see the sun when we step off the plane, after “wheels down” (lol) in 11 days or so……. Here’s to a happy spark plug on your generator! Later, Mitch
Mitch;
Local weather reporting (Pag asa) never knows what is going on except for today.
Its Tuesday morning and it has not stopped pouring down yet it’s been 24/7, I’ve just about hit my “Popeye Factor” (That’s alls thats I cans stands, and I can’t stands no more!) I’m surpose to meet some friends for lunch Thursday, so I hope your right.
I like your first generator Paul, enclosed in a furniture style cabinet. That must be the Super Deluxe model. Thanks for another enjoyable article.
Hi Bob;
It took Honda and the cabinetmakers some time to incorporate the two together; the carbon Monoxide sure makes the food taste bad.
Paul,
I chuckled as usual at your article. My g/f in Cavite is so tired of the rain too. There are areas of flooding in Cavite, but not where she lives. She has been staying busy playing bingo and other games with the other girls where she lives. In some parts of Cavite/Metro Manila she has had to make her business deliveries in a boat lol. Oh well its more fun in the Philippines. Maybe its time to get the Ark ready. Have a nice as day as possible.
PapaDuck;
It’s been bad up in her neck of the woods, so I’m glad to hear she’s doin’ fine. Mitch above heard it’s ending Thursday and I say Amen to that. I really want to wash my car!
Paul,
Updated news from Cavite. The first floor of her house got flooded, but has since receded. Every one was safe on the 2nd floor which is the most important thing. They had to carry the wheelchair bound 85 yr old lola to the 2nd floor.
They lost there TV and other belongings, but they can be replaced. Her new house will be built in a flood free area higher up. Glad some relief is in sight for you and your family. Take care and stay safe.
Paul,
If your generator has an electric start, you can add an ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch) that will send a start signal to your generator when you drop off the grid. But it wouldn’t be as much fun. Perhaps you can plug it into your table too
Hudson;
I was thinking electric start but went with manual start. The problem is Manual has not showed up yet and someone said he’s hiding in Southern California. But I was thinking with electric start, what can you do if the battery is dead; you can’t recharge it until the power comes back on, a real Catch 22 situation.
We have brown outs here in Mindanao Paul. Had one just last week that lasted 20 minutes.
Gary;
Isn’t that delightful- blah, blah, blah! If only I’d had the foresight to move down there to the land of milk and honey, can you hear the song in the background? (LOL)
😛
Gary:
Stay dry! (lol)
If it was not for Mayang’s foresightfulness there could have just a generator in your house and not a new dining table, but because of Mayang’s ingenuity now you have the generator plus the dining table too, lol. You are truly blessed to have Mayang on your side. There’s a lesson learned from your outside the kulambo neighbor. If you go to karaoke lounge and overspent, make sure to have a ready alibi when you reached home and confronted by your wife, eg say pickpocket or held up, lol. Nice article.
Louie;
Mayang is brilliant in her own way. If she had bought the generator she would have never turned it on. So in her mind and since we need a dining set she made a command decision.
I asked my neighbor where he went that night, but for some reason he wouldn’t tell me. He did say that his wife is still a bit miffed.
Hi Paul -You had that brownout/ blackout too last week same here in QC. Now 10:30 pm heavy rain.. the whole week it’s raining, the whole days it’s been showering. End result.. floods/Traffic in the city now. .. and still no sun. until weekend, I guess.
Sugar;
If it doesn’t end soon I’m going to rust away, this is the first time in my memory it has rained without stopping for this long. I’m hoping the weekend is clear, even if only a few days. I’m tired of it.
Paul, this is a great story! I love it! I am laughing as I read it and my wife is asking what is so funny. So, as I relay the story of your generator, she asks, let me see a picture of the dining room set!! LOL! Women. They’d always choose a dining room set over a generator any day… except maybe when there is no power!
Scott that’s a classic, lol.
Scott;
The ladies have different priorities, and view situations from a different perspective.
Example: The car won’t start: The man; could it be the battery, the starter motor, can I jump it, to get it to the shop?
The Woman: Now how will I get to the mall? It all depends on your point of view; BTW Mayang said your wife was correct!
But that’s why we love them!
Well Paul, at least you don’t have to shovel the rain in the cold. That was a good command decision you made years ago to get away from the snow. Also not to rag on Mayang anymore about the dining table. When she was setting up the house she probably never thought about your SMBs getting warm without electricity to run the refrigerator. Good article again. Thanks
Loren;
An Olongapo City alert was sent out this morning (Tuesday 7 Aug.) all the bridges are underwater and both markets are flooded, most roads are flooded, and all city functions are closed for the day except emergency responders. Our little town is a mess. Mayang was going to town today and we talked and I advised her to not go. But the Dining room generator is gassed up and ready to go, just in case. With the exception that the road in front of my house is now river rapids heading down to the flatlanders all is fine here, plenty of food and adult beverages.
Wow!
Bob;
My niece Shay-shay woke up at her house at 5am this morning and found out that school was canceled for today, again due to the flooding. She lives below us down the street but still on the mountain, as I said above my road looks likes the rapids on the Colorado River, plus the water is coming down in torrents with crashing thunder and lighting, with all that she is now in my living room watching TV in dry clothing. Twelve is a wonderful age! Still a little girl, but changing quickly into a young lady. Perfection!
hi paul,
“wax on, wax off”, hmm reminds me of something that i have been puzzing about since i learned to read… Easy On spray starch vs Easy Off oven cleaner… what’s the connection? i keep my oven cleaner in the kitchen (the inside dirty one as i’m batchin it now at present) i keep the spray starch in the laundry room, hate it when i get them confused.
now to the genetator, i got a honda 5000 model with electric start, battery charging and manual pull start override. now if i could only dig it out of the garage to use it for the second time in 27 years.
its raining in florida too.
cheers,
Jade
ps, glad the “Curiosity” didnt get the inches and cms mixed up and did land safely.
Jade;
I’m one of the dinosaurs that still refuses to use the metric system. They can sell me a 750 ML of Rum, but when I get home it’s a Fifth of Rum. I have an understanding of metric, and I know it makes more sense, but those geniuses in Congress still don’t want to in act it in the USA, who I to tell them their wrong.
Now as a bachelors who I was for most of my life, Easy Off Oven Cleaner, Is great for removing Easy Off Spray Starch from you iron in the laundry room. I hope I didn’t mess up you lifestyle with that information (LOL)
Ship that generator over here as it’s a good one, you’ll sell it in a Manila minute, (that’s one week in real time) Enjoy those sun showers in Florida, I lived there for ten years.
Paul
I have been in the PO 80’s when the rains it and it ain’t a pretty sight, but there was nothing wrong with sitting on a bar stool at the Brown Fox as the water was rising.
I have not herd from friends that lives in E Tapinac for over a week so it must be bad there. After all the money they spent I hope the kalaklan bridge didn’t flood, is it flooded enough for Sh-t river to flow down down Magsaysay.
Neal:
The Kalaklan Bridge has flooded, alone with all bridges to Subic Freeport. The town is awash with tiny brown groupers. I miss breakfast at the Brown Fox, waiting for the curfew to lift at 5am. There is a strip mall there now very sad! Unless your friends have a cell phone you might not reach them or maybe low batt on the cell. But we’ve only had a few deaths and they were caused by people being where they should not have been and ignoring the warnings. This is the worst I’ve seen since Pinatubo, but that’s because of over 30 days of none stop rain, the water has no where left to go. People remember gravity, for that is why the gods invented mountains.
Ahhh, paul, it all makes sense to me now, who’d a thunk that the easy on and the easy off coud have anything to do with one another. i really dont starch and iron much but i do bake a roast in the oven now and then…
lucky me i live on top of a small mountain here in palm harbor fla at 17 feet above sea level so no flooding here for the present. i need to ask my wife Daisy if our house in Calamba Laguna has flooded again. its near a small river that emptys into lake laguna de bay. it has flooded the house twice since we built it in 2005. Daisy isnt there now as she is working in Bahrain.
stay ‘wet’ while staying dry, Jade
ps on the in cm thing, i dont mind it much, use both interchangably but now on F vs C i know what F feels like but C … well 30C is abt 87F but the rest?
one of the mars orbiters burnred because of in cm error and the hubbe was out of focus for the same reason.
Jade;
With 5 sons and a husband my mother taught us to Iron our own clothes, or go out wrinkled. The Navy in the 60’s had the same rule, being a bachelor most of my life the rule applied. My first wife thought the iron was for making grilled cheese sandwiches, (The best thing she could cook) Mayang was surprised when she found out that I not only wanted to press my shirts, I liked it.
Before I bought my house down from you in Largo I went to the city and checked the flood map. Most people don’t know that every city has on it’s used for emergency planning. My house didn’t flood, but three streets over did. Go figure!
With global warming, it makes sense to live uphill.
Jamie:
Global warming really had nothing to do with my decision to live on higher ground; it was Puerto Rico, where I lost a house and Night Club that were both on the beach to a 15 foot tidal surge that flooded me out. You can only get me once.
hello paul and all, update on Calamba floodiing; Daisy spoke to her older sister who is watchinh the house for us. she said there has been no flooding though the little river is high. all of the appliances had been moved to the 2nd floor. disabled car is still on the lower but no damage. wish we had built on the upper slopes of mt makilia ass we had looked at, but alas family perogtives won out.
stay safe, Jade
Jade;
The local NEWS has been covering the situation in the Mega Manila area, as nothing else in the country is important.
Bahrain was one of the few places I enjoyed during my few years in the “Gulf” I often wondered why if Dubai and Bahrain could be so modern in their thinking, why couldn’t they drag their neighbors out of the Middle Ages and join the world in this century. I hope all is well with the house you folks have.
pls excuse typos since i am using cell phone for typing.
Jade
Hey, a dining room set is VERY important! My parents gave me a dining room set — completely hand carved, with ivory inlay and “back to back” caning ( sometimes called “French caning”) for a wedding present back in 1980. They shipped it to upstate NY. I have moved 37 times since, lugging that dining room set around.
The dining room table survived my divorce in 1990. It was the only thing my ex-husband and I fought over (we did not have children.) He let me have it when I told him his next wife will only hate it.
The dining room table survived the house fire of 2007, in spite of the fact that it was sitting on top of a 1,600 degree fahrenheit blaze. The dining room chairs also survived being tossed out the picture window into the front yard. And the dining room set survived the whole restoration process — being dipped into a vat of chemicals to remove the damaged lacquer and soot from the fire. And then, of course, there was the sanding and refinishing. The insurance paid $1,600 dollars to restore the table and $250 for each chair (six). Some finials were lost and had to be replaced — with oak (yuk!) Anyway, luckily for me none of the caning was busted in spite of the fact the chairs were tossed out the window. The caning would’ve had to be restored by hand (at an additional $200 per chair!)
So, when I decided to return to the Philippines, I decided to ship it back with me.
The movers offered to buy the table. My brothers thought I was insane. The customs inspectors thought the 20-ft container only contained the table (Of course not! I filled two-thirds of the container with other stuff — mostly packing material.) And I swore to God that dining room table was going to be buried with me when I die, so people will have a place to sit when they come visit on All Soul’s Day. Hey, this is not as strange as it sounds in the Philippines! My uncle’s mausoleum has a CR.
Anyway, with regard to blackouts, my parents’ house in QC is on the Camp Crame power grid. The only problem we’ve had in the last 70 years or so was in 1986 during the People Power Revolution.
Mimi;
I going to hazard a wild guess and say that you’re very fond of your Dining Room set! As for your uncle with the CR in his mausoleum, I say; “Now that is a classic idea,” Albeit I do wonder about how the plumbing works, but being used once a year I guess it’s not a problem, but I do like the idea!
I understand your Dining set and its value to you, I have a few things given to me by my parents and I insured that they were always safe. With over 30 years at sea, and living all around the Earth, I paid to store them while I traveled. I shipped them here, and now look at them every day as a reminder of my folks. So I cheer the care you’ve taken of your prized Dining Set!
Dear Paul,
I’ve never visited my uncle’s mausoleum. Mainly because my uncle’s not dead yet. He only showed me the photographs. What my uncle calls a ‘CR’ doesn’t have any plumbing. I think it is more of an outhouse attached to the rear of the mausoleum. The mausoleum has two stories. At the moment, there are only two unoccupied tombs on the first floor. They do have a married son. I’m not sure where they intend to put him. And there’s a patio-like area that opens up to a garden that is meant for outdoor dining. There are built-in benches and a table. But there is no kitchen. I believe the second floor is for siestas. Guests will have to bring their own beddings, of course.
I saw my uncle last Christmas and he told me he was thinking of bringing the remains of his father (my grandfather) back to Nueve Ecija. Of course, my grandfather has been dead for half a century by now, so his remains will simply be placed in an urn. I thought this a good thing. The mausoleum can use some accessories.
I must confess, I did not want nor did I ask for the dining room table. My ex-husband did. I tried to talk my parents out of it, but they did it because they really loved him. I cursed that table every time we had to move it. But when we divorced, I knew I had to keep the table. Yes, it reminded me of my ex-husband and of a failed marriage. But it also told me many things about my parents and their love for me and their hopes for my happiness in marriage. My parents are gone now. Still I do tell my friends, if they truly, truly hope the best for their children’s marriages, give them cash.
Me and Elly walked around Pita today, and gave rice, coffee & cookies to those who needed. The only bridge to Pita is 3 ft underwater, and its still raining. One guys house slipped into the river and another is ready to go very soon. It seems the goverment quarried the river 6 months ago for the sand. They failed to reinforce the banks, that topped with the ravenging of trees from Mikes Mountain caused more devistation than it should have. Most of the residents in Pita are hanging out at the local high school and Barangay Hall to keep dry & get food.
We feel very fortunate to have a home that does not flood and a generator to provide electricity. My in-laws in Luacan are all flooded out. They can’t get to Pita because the bridge is unpassable.
It is very humbling to see this, the rain hasn’t stopped all day, suppose to go on til at least Friday, according to GMA weather.
Mike;
What a mess Dinalupihan is, the people here in Roosevelt are inconvenienced but due to our mountain they are safe. The folks that work in Olongapo are staying home from work because of the floods down there. I’m with you and hope this rain stops soon, I’m sick of it.
No shooting pool on Thursday?
Hi Paul;
Funny story about the dining room table. I hope your rain stops soon. I experienced a severe rainy season while I was there in 1972. Even the cement road to Manila had sections washed out and was turned into gravel. Five typhoons crossed Subic in about 2 months, that year.
We keep wishing for some more rain here. We had a little last week. Our lawn is completely brown, and dried out. The corn crops around here are a lost cause this year. A large protion of the central US is in a draught disaster state. Give us back some of your rain.
Hi Paul,
Good story and one to live by even for those of us who still live in the USA. I live near Andrews AFB, and we have brown outs even when it is sunny and bright for no reason. It took having no power for one week during a winter ice storm to know that a generator makes plenty sense. Now when we have power outages, you can hear the various generators going across my backyard and next door. Great story!
Hi Paul,
Good story and one to live by even for those of us who still live in the USA. I live near Andrews AFB, and we have brown outs even when it is sunny and bright for no reason. It took having no power for one week during a winter ice storm to know that a generator makes plenty sense. Now when we have power outages, you can hear the various generators going across my backyard and next door. Great story!
John;
My freezer is stocked, and my beer ref is full, plus the ref in the kitchen, no electric company will pay to replace what I lose, so the generator was my answer. I also had one when I was stationed in South Carolina, and Puerto Rico, to me it’s as important as a car. Ah the sound of internal combustion engines in the morning…
Larry;
You would think all those liberals in New York working at the UN could redistribute the rain like Washington wants to redistribute wealth. I’ve been without power since 11:00 yesterday and just wandered out in the torrential rain at 04:30 this morning to gas and fire up the generator. I’m on average 5 hours a day on the generator. And Bataan has not had a typhoon so far this year. Could Al Gore be right? Nope!, I don’t think so.
Paul, is the number of brown outs you are having normal? Seems some areas have many outages while other areas have very few, and nothing to do with the weather. The Texan-in-the-Philippines (John) in Calbayog City always talks of extended brown outs, but on the north side of Calbayog City where we are building, there are few. Go figure.
Randy;
Over this past year we’ve had few brownouts, but anytime we have weather like this they will happen (every rainy season). You take the good with the bad. But buy the generator, because the first 5 to 6 day brownout after a typhoon hits you’ll be glad you did. My friend Mike (Pita Mike from above) moved here a few months ago and bought his generator shortly after their arrival. I think he’s happy he did!
Paul thanks for the weather and flooding updates. I guess it is good that I am in the USA as if I experianced that i may loose my love of lots of rain. Stay safe.
Loren;
Less than five minutes the sun came out, after all this time without seeing it. The rain also has just stopped. Wednesday 8 Aug. 09:51 Oh happy day, but still no power!
Thank you for the detailed updates. We’re getting the same news coverage here, mostly Metro Manila. You live as close as anyone to our family there in Naparing, so I look forward to hearing any updates of the area. They have lost pretty much everything. The house is still there, but we were told that the water had nearly reached their roof during our last conversation.
Thank you for posting such good info, but I have to ask…..Are you sitting at the dining room table while posting? 🙂
Cheers, be safe!
Doug;
The hard rain has stopped for awhile, my wife was able to go into Olongapo this morning, we are getting soft rain right with the sun trying to break through. We still have been over 24 hours without power. So I’m home with my daughter and grandson while my wife’s gone.
I’m not even allowed to drink at the dining rppm table, let a lone set up my computer on it. (lol)
Paul — the rains here QC hasn’t stopped I hate the rain! really pouring right now. power/phones was restored though. Had waist deep water few blocks. Heard Bataan flooding too.
Sugar;
My friend is stuck in his house here in Dinalupihan, because of bad flooding, his house is fine as it was built on elevated land, but all around him and the only bridge out of his area is underwater.
Paul, if the Mrs. was able to go to Olongapo, does that mean the major flooding has floooowed away? I saw some facebook pics and they had what looked like waste deep water in the city……. something aboit all the bridges being closed etc. Just concerned cuz, We’ll be in town a week from Sat and want to know if people are getting through the streets OK…..??? But if the weather reports and data I;m seeing, you guys should start very soon drying out…….
R/ Mitch
Mitch;
It was raining still Wednesday but not as hard as before and now it’s raining again this Thursday morning. The main streets are clear and only a few small pockets of flooded areas remain. If the rain stops today as predicted by the Pag Asa? (Repeat it’s still raining) it all should be cleared by Saturday. So we’ll pop open a SMB and wait and see.
Thank you for the update. It looks as if it’ll be clear skies for you all later tonight and into the morning including the QC area.
Hope you all dry out soon.
🙂
Doug;
So they tell me, I’ll believe it when I see it. It’s true the torrential rain has let up, but it is still raining at a good clip. We’re in our third day with no power and my generator is doing double duty. We are now charging any of our neighbor’s cell phones that need it, so we have chargers in most sockets. It’s the least we can do.
Thank you for the update. It looks as if it’ll be clear skies for you all later tonight and into the morning including the QC area.
Hope you all dry out soon.
🙂
Bruce;
Mine Has both 110 and 220, I only use the one 220 plug to feed the house. It’s worked for 12 years. Ship the one you have.
Doug;
It didn’t clear on Thursday I know this because today is Friday, it did let up a bit, and by 16:00 came back full force, Olongapo and Manila have re-flooded and they (The Pag Asa) say it will now stop on Sunday. Power is still off going on day 4; nothing has improved except I did get more gas for my generator.
Senior,
Flooding in the Philippines has hit the stateside news. It’s raining here in J-ville but mostly in the afternoon. I’ve always had a generator here in florida and will do the same in Subic. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best is my motto.
Oh Yea yesterday was my 19 yrs at the Sheriff office so now I have one to go and then it’s off to the Philippines. Short timers chain commong up.
Can’t get a hold of my friend in Subic city hope he’s not blowing bubbles.
Bruce;
I saw it on CNN, and I also heard the Deputy Director of the Philippine Red Cross explain that the residents of the flooded areas didn’t evacuate fast enough. Maybe all the Jeepney’s were too busy to help those people. Ship that generator first!
Senior,
I’m going to tap your gray matter and buy on over there and all will be good. By the way these in the states have 110 volt outlets and only one 220 plug in.
Went to the exchange today and found some Capt Morgan private stock. OH Yea!!
Bruce,
Won’t be long before the trip. When will you be in Cavite? Where i’ll be at in Kawit is not to far from Silang. Maybe we can get together in Cavite too. We’re going to rent a car and driver to go to Subic. Tigers are playing good again, albiet they lost to the Yankees last night. Take care.
Randy I’ll shoot you an e-mail with our plans
Bruce;
When you hardwire it into your system you only use 1 plug, the 220 plug.