Live in the Philippines

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The Rest of the Story

Weather / by

This is a story about 4 Paul(s), Paul K. flies home to the Philippines to be greeted by a typhoon named Megi internationally or Juan here in the Philippines. And I named it Megi Juan Kenobi. Well thankfully Paul Keating arrived home safely and the typhoon spared his area from severe damage and according to Paul K. not much loss of power. Welcome home shipmate. But as Paul Harvey used to say, here’s the rest of the story… Down south on the Island of Luzon, lives another Paul, or AKA Paul T. here in Bataan we were listed as a signal 1 storm warning, so I’m going to have an easy time of it. Nay not so, as our power was off for four days, with a few hours each afternoon.

So what’s the problem Paul T., everybody knows you have a generator, and plenty of gas. The problem is BASEBALL, and satellite TV. We have been hit with solid pounding rain, which plays heavily on satellite reception. And there is nothing a Red Sox fan loves more than watching those New York Yankees take a spanking during the ALCS games, and those boys in Texas are sure doing that.

If anyone may remembers the famous curse of the Bambino, that hung over (not to be confused with hangover) Boston, just for trading Babe Ruth to New York those many decades before? Then it stands to reason that there is a new curse of the Bambino, as those New Yorkers tore down the “House that Ruth Built”, old Yankee Stadium. If that didn’t jack the jaws of the Babe’s ghost, I just don’t know what would? So with the generator running full tilt, rain falling so fast it’s overflowing the fish pond, and “No Signal” flashing every ten minutes during my ball game, I have to run to the computer to keep up with the games. Do you feel my pain yet?

Who in their right mind would schedule a typhoon during Championship Playoffs? My beer supply is dwindling, I’m almost out of frozen Philly Cheese Steaks, and I’m in no mood to find pictures to go with this article, so just let’s use our imagination. (LOL) Okay just a couple of pictures; I’ll borrow Mayang’s new Camera. If the rain would just stop so the beer truck can get up the hill, all will be back to normal again.

Now for the fourth Paul, Saint Paul, (Who was Saul, before he was Paul) I pray to him to intercede with his boss, and cause the Yankees to lose, (even though they are doing that pretty much on their own) and that my beer will never run out. The brownouts and rain, well that’s okay, if you get it right with the beer! Then, when the weather is clear, the power is on, the satellite is working, and my beer is cold. Now I get the U.S. Navy flying Helicopters over my house all day. I can’t win. So to Saint Paul, Paul Keating, and Paul Harvey, I say, just get rid of that Paul T, and you’ll have one hell of a team! A quote from Paul Harvey “Goodbye” P.S. To my patron Saint Paul, Ya done real good with that Yankee thing!

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Comments

  1. I spent 10 years in Dallas, plus I’m half Texan (Mother’s side), pretty excited about the Rangers. I grew up in LA so I’m no fan of the Giants – I’m pullin’ for those guys from Arlington. Too bad about all the ownership drama…

  2. Hi Paul…I grew up in Kansas and found that watching baseball is much like watching the grass grow in Kansas in the month of August. Slooowwwww.

    Sorry,
    Gary

  3. Rangers going to the World Series and the Super Bowl is coming to Arlington, Texas, in February 2011, which is the home of the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Rangers. It will be a great sporting year for the state of Texas if the Rangers pull this one off.

    • Jakeb;
      Whoa Nellie, “IF” the Texas Rangers win? Sir, if you are a Texan, than you must have the Power of Positive Thinking, they damn sure are goin’ to win, now if those Cowboys can get to the Super Bowl…?

        • Gary;
          Manny does seem to like it there in Texas, maybe a Rangers fan? How can he box anymore, isn’t it illegal to strike a congressman from the Philippines?

      • Hey Paul Thompson

        It would nice to see the Rangers win the World Series. As for the Cowboys they just lost again and now have a 1-5 record. Too bad Jerry Jones. I guess that means a new coach for next year or maybe this year. I also am glad to see the Yankees lose being from the Tampa Bay area. I hear you on that beer, would have been easier with some cold brew. Take care brother

  4. Hi Paul,I feel your pain! My Mets have not won anything since 1986! I was there at Shea for game 7….thanks to a First Baseman…He’s already takin’ enough slack for that one! Hey,fire up the generator & enjoy!

    • Joe;
      I was watching that game in Luquillo Beach Puerto Rico, Boston was going to win it, until John (Bucky) Bucknel decided to let the winning out, roll between his feet at 1st base and the Mets took the series. No, I have no memory of that! Has anyone ever heard from Bucky again?

      • Hi Paul,I believe his name was Bill Buckner….The Red Sox made up with him,the fans too. When the Sox finally won the World Series(2004?),Buckner was in their victory parade in Boston. It’s tough being a Mets fan here in Maine,much easier in Connecticut,where I’m originally from!

  5. Hi Paul,
    Being a Brit i know nothing about Baseball.
    I do know a little about Asian Typhoons though,having ridden a few out at sea in my navy days.
    Although its an exciting thing for a young man,its also scary,especially the first one you encounter.The force of those things is truly awsome.
    Enjoy your Baseball.
    regards,Chas.

    • Chasdv;
      Just like you and Baseball, I don’t understand Cricket.
      But,Cyclones, in the Indian, Ocean, Typhoons, in the Pacific Ocean, or Hurricane’s in the Atlantic, I’ve been in them all. But the ones on the dirt are the ones that worry me. The ship can run away from them at sea, but on the dirt I own the house/night club, and they cost me big money to rebuild. (Don’t even bring up insurance, sore subject)

  6. Growing up with Baseball i am a fan and prefer watching sports in season instead of one sport 12 months a year which is a Filipino thing . Do have friendly discussions with my English friends as to which sport is more boring .. baseball or soccer .

    All in the eye of the beholder of course and i can handle a 1 – 0 score in baseball better than a 0 – 0 tie in soccer but as for cricket i have no clue . 🙂

    • Alan;
      Basketball is popular here due to their height advantage. Whereas Hispanics discovered baseball, that didn’t require them to be as tall as Filipino’s. A 1-0 score, at least they finished the game and someone won.

    • Ron;
      Sweepers sweepers man your brooms, commence sweep down of all decks and passageways, empty all trash over the fan tail at this time. Now Ron, after hearing that for 20 plus years, you think Curling would appeal to me? LOL

  8. Hi Paul – You put me in some very impressive company – quite a 4-some I’d say.

    So sayeth Paul the K:

    When the heavens relented of their rains and winds, and when once again the sun stretcheth its glorious rays to encompass the known earth in a forgiving caress, the power made by man fell into disfavor with The Almighty. Sunlight provided illumination by day, kinki by night. All was grid switching and load balancing, with the major source of celestial irritation being the internet routers and towers, thereby ceasing the functions known as email and surfing the net.

    This day, in the period of week after typhoon, all is well with God and Man. Net speeds stayeth high, bit errors stayeth low: internet was seen to be good and was allowed to coexist with Man. Power made by men, t00, was seen to be good, and was allowed to serve man at his pleasure.

    To quoteth Paul the H: Good day.
    😆

    • Paul;
      Monday my power went of at 11:30, fired up the generator. 17:00 my nephew , told me. “Toto Paul, there is no brownout today. He was right, my meter was wet from the 8 days of hard rain and cut my power. Dennis my “Electric Guy”was at the house lickity split, and put me back on the grid. “Let there be light”, sayeth Dennis. Good Day!

    • Paul

      Happy to see you survived with minmal irritation. Sounds like it could have been much worse.

  9. LOL
    I assume that for the near future, I should expect all of your FB posts to be Rangers-related, Paul? I get it. In the U.S., baseball is not a sport; it is a religion!

    I often wonder about sports in the Philippines. I can understand that the cost of equipment dictates that baseball & football will not be favoured in the near future, but why basketball? One would think that soccer would be a sport where Filipinos/as could best compete internationally. O.K., I’ve distracted you long enough! Back to baseball!

  10. Mike;
    The Boston Red Sox, missed the playoff’s this year. New York, squeaked in on a wildcard. Boston’s not there so my goal is now just to see New York lose. Texas, were the underdogs, plus the fact that they’ve never been to the “Big Show” in their 50 years as a team.
    I be back with Boston and the Red Sox Nation next March.
    No Baseball until Friday morning, the Ref. is well stocked with beer, all is well in Bataan. Go Rangers!

    • Hey Paul, my Atlanta Braves made the playoff courtesy of San Diego losing–I was in TN hills watching the games with SF Giants celebrating and bidding farewell to Bobby Cox! There’s always next year and maybe Chipper Jones will be healthy by then.

      Like you, I don’t understand cricket either. I played a little bit of Tennis but never good at it. I don’t even want to carry a bag for my tennis balls. One day in Mobile Alabama, after playing a set, I just put my tennis balls in my pants front pocket and as I went out of the court another player asked: What is that? I said: Tennis balls. The he said “Owww, that must hurt, I used to have Tennis elbow! lol.

      Mars

    • Hey Paul Thompson

      All is well as long as you have some cold ones. Things won’t look so good for my Tampa Bay Rays next year. They will be purging there payroll of thirty million, so it looks like it maybe just the red sox/yankees again at top. Be Safe

      • Randy;
        I hope you’re wrong about the Tampa Bay Ray’s, they keep the other teams on their toes, I used to live in Clearwater when they were first forming up. I loved that area as all the spring training games I’d get to go to.

  11. Nice article.

    I have been in TX since ’99 outside of a 3 year stay in Hawaii/Iraq.

    Go Rangers.

    Next year I will be back for pulling for the Cardinals.

    And if this was the DISASTROS in the playoffs I would have been for anyone else—even the yankees. I can’t stand me some Cubs, Mets or Astros.

    • Hi Pete;
      Thanks for reminding that they was another baseball team in Texas, Okay, that was long enought, I forgot them again. But, unlike you I’ll take any team over ‘thems damn Yankees. Card’s in the playoff’s next year, why the hell not!

  12. Funny thing happened the other day, I still live in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Anyway, There is this Union Cemetery in a town/city called woodside. I was driving by and heard them playing “Taps”. I was wondering how in the world could they being playing taps at cemetery that hasn’t had new resident in many years. Then I realized they were play taps for the Yankees and Rangers.

    GO GIANTS!!!!!

    • Robert;
      When I was sailing merchant ships our office was was out of Oakland, when not in training with firefighting or such, we’d take the afternoon and go over to Candlestick Park to watch a game. When the temperature would drop in to the 50’s in August, I knew this was the worst ballpark in history. Thank the stars you have that new park now.
      BTW; After the Rangers, bury the Giants, you just might be hearing Tap’s again.

      • Hi Paul, We’ll see what happens after Tomorrow’s game who will be playing taps. GO GIANTS.

          • It’s now 6:55 PM West Coast Time, game is on, 5th inning, 2-out, Ranger on the mound, Rangers – 2, Giants -8. Way to go GIANTS.

            • Jun;
              11 to 5 San Francisco, no taps yet. Texas is well known for letting people build up a false sense of security, and swooping in to finish them off. Go Texas!

              • Hi Paul, San Francisco 2 to nothing Texas. I hope your power is back on. You wouldn’t want to miss game 3, 4 and 5 in Texas starting tomorrow, would you? Hmmm…I wonder if there will be a game 5. Maybe?

                Regards

                Jun

      • Paul, when I was station in Sonoma County (Petaluma Tracen), late ’80s, we used to watch all the Braves game at Candlestick and you are so right-July night games feels like winter time plus the wind. Candlestick is where I watch my first Pro baseball game while @ boot camp in Alameda in ’68. Midway through boot training, we were allowed to go with our USO supplied tickets. A buddy of mine heard somebody yelling “hot doooog” and we ordered one for each of us. When we got it, we looked at each other in amazement and said “Dang, we eat dogs in the Philippines, but we never eat this part of the dog!” Ha ha ha, Braves will play the Red Sox next year in playoff-my prediction.

        • Mars;
          The coldest winter I ever spent was one summer in San Francisco’s Candlestick park. We would stop in Daily City after the games and have a painted label SMB, and something to eat. I never got to see a game in their new park, but it looks great on TV.
          ” But we never eat this part of the dog!” Very funny Master Chief, I enjoyed that!

  13. Cricket is simple:

    You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.

    Each man that’s in the side that’s in goes out, and when he’s out he comes in and the next man goes in until he’s out.

    When they are all out, the side that’s out comes in and the side thats been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.

    Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

    When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.

    There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.

    When both sides have been in and all the men have gone out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!

  14. Mars & Paul, that’s my understanding of it. Every player wears white, so one has to know what the positions are to figure out who’s on which team and who the umpires are – though, if I remember correctly, the umps wear overcoats. The points one gets for hitting the ball seem to depend on how far one hits it, though after a certain distance I think you get 6, no matter how much further it goes. The batter stands in front of a “wicket” which is comprised of a couple of horizontal pieces of wood, resting atop of some stanchions. One of the ways the bowler(pitcher) strikes out the batter is by knocking the horizontal pieces off of the stanchions. Not as easy as you’d think, because the bowler has to make the ball bounce before it gets to the batter & wickets. Yessiree, if you ever want to know some useless facts, I’m the man to see. Not that cricket is useless, just that there’s not much chance that we’ll ever play it. Wouldn’t surprise me a bit if one day we see the Bukidnon All Blacks, led by Jim C., meeting up with the Davao Punters, Captained by John G., on the Davao Chapter’s pitch(field). As long as there’s a ball or puck and the beer is cold, I’ll be front & center. Now, about polo…

    • Mike;
      And I thought I had a good handle on the game after your first explanation… But we are in full agreement, if the beer is cold I’m there also, even if it’s just to watch paint dry.

  15. Paul I started life as a devoted Red Sox fan same as you but over the years the constant let downs, outrageous bad luck and cheap*ss owners drove me away. I describe the Red Sox as the girl you went to the Prom with but never got any further than the first dance…You had high hopes only to be let down in the end, lol. I’m glad for my father though (now 85 years young) he finally got to see the Sox win the big one in his lifetime. Now you guys won’t mind if I happen to miss those cricket matches will you? Well I may show up for the beer and camaraderie!

    • Mark;
      Beer and camaraderie! That’s the main reason behind all sports! I couldn’t have said it better. I’m glad to hear your Dad saw them win, if only to justify his faith in the team. Maybe we’ll see it happen again in the next decade. I know what you’re saying about the years of disappointment, the 1986 Series against the Mets, very nearly caused me to give up on the Sox, But I’m just a cockeyed optimist. (lol)

  16. it’s dry and to hot here and my cowboys are done and so were my cards . What can I say In to each life a little rain most fall or to much rain . Make you a deal Paul You take some of my dry weather and i’ll take a lot of your rain.

    • Eric;
      If I could box up the rain and FedEx it to you I darn sure would. Yesterday it was sunny all day, until around 17:00, the sky opened and sent a real Gully Washer. It lasted 25 minutes and flooded my neighbors yard. His chickens were doing the back stroke last I checked.

  17. Now you all have me curious to see a cricket game (match?) . Is it ever on TV? maybe I have to check the schedules for BBC America.

  18. Paul,
    Good read today! Hope those Rangers can find their winning ways! Really liked how you used the 4-Paul effect!

    • Hi Steve;
      Here on LiP there seems to be a lot of Paul’s, counting some of the guys that write and comment. It’s a name that has served me well. In High School, my English teacher called me Paulie, when I refused to answer, he explained he was just calling me that for short. Wow, adding two letters to a one syllable four letter name, to make it short? He gonna’ teach me a lot about English!
      Texas got off to a shaky start, but as we Boston fans always say, “There’s another game tomorrow!”

  19. Senior;
    Liked your story I listened to Paul Harvey until he had to stop that was a sad day. How long wasw he on radio about 100yrs or so? Can’t remember when he wasn’t.
    I predict Texas in 6!!! I’m a AL Fan and must stick to my guns.
    By the way that Paul t. was pretty smart to have a generator cold SMB, radio or tv are manditory to survival in Typoons and brown outs. Candles are optional 🙂
    By the way how much did you pay for your generator over there?

  20. Mike;
    Page one: Paul Harvey was just always there. He just came with every new radio. Texas in 6 would be a good thing, but after yesterdays game, we now know that the Giants also came to play, and play they did. But in a couple of hours (07:00) my time we have game two. New day new results!
    Page Two: Generators are really not that bad a price, in 2000 It cost $1,100.00 for a Honda. But it gets serviced every year by Honda Reps. But one could foolishly buy cheap ones from China, I just hope they never need a part for it. (A good Honda in 2011 would be more but it’s worth every centavo and more. Good day!