Corona

[robert angel]

Gotta gettaway... The sea is always good for my sanity...

[ignorante]

    Glad you got to get out - it's not good to be cooped up at home for too long . . .

[robert angel]

   Glad you got to get out - it's not good to be cooped up at home for too long . . .

Thanks! It's real easy to get soft--weaker physically after 130+ days 'inhouse' and only a couple hours apart (for Dr. Appts) from one other person/s--especially if one other person loves to cook, all styles and ingredients. Bakes, vegies, all cuts of meat, deserts... With a bi weekly grocery run, we have (after initial supply shortages) almost food overload--we're cooped up captive eaters.


Did Dominoes a couple times and it was either a Frito Burrito or rehab for me, but otherwise have stayed out of restaurants.


Before we usually went once or twice a week for a hyper physical hot pilates or yoga sweat session and if you could make it through all the demanding poses and hold--you felt good to live another day. You again passed the test and hopefully not too sore...


That was at least four months ago. I'm about as active as in a nursing home probably. My own fault. Guys go into prison in 4X10 cells and come out in better physical shape every day.


There's a good Aussie 7 minute work out on youtube  that we do--it typically turns into 9 or 10 minutes length, but that's not a whole routine in and of itself.


But as Calipro says:


"""Best to stick to indoor sports right now.I get sun on my balcony and do cardio in the apartment""

The CARDIO is what we're really missing out on. Being more active. And that cardio workout is probably the best way to extend your life in years.  But enough of that---I have to quit watching the news while relaxing in bed as I currently am-- because my wife is calling me sweetly for her exquisite chicken parmigiana & garlic bread  (and dandy Italian salad that as custom, I'll add the finishing touch to)

[mambocowboy]

Thanks! It's real easy to get soft--weaker physically after 130+ days 'inhouse' and only a couple hours apart (for Dr. Appts) from one other person/s--especially if one other person loves to cook, all styles and ingredients. Bakes, vegies, all cuts of meat, deserts... With a bi weekly grocery run, we have (after initial supply shortages) almost food overload--we're cooped up captive eaters.


Did Dominoes a couple times and it was either a Frito Burrito or rehab for me, but otherwise have stayed out of restaurants.


Before we usually went once or twice a week for a hyper physical hot pilates or yoga sweat session and if you could make it through all the demanding poses and hold--you felt good to live another day. You again passed the test and hopefully not too sore...


That was at least four months ago. I'm about as active as in a nursing home probably. My own fault. Guys go into prison in 4X10 cells and come out in better physical shape every day.


There's a good Aussie 7 minute work out on youtube  that we do--it typically turns into 9 or 10 minutes length, but that's not a whole routine in and of itself.


But as Calipro says:


"""Best to stick to indoor sports right now.I get sun on my balcony and do cardio in the apartment""

The CARDIO is what we're really missing out on. Being more active. And that cardio workout is probably the best way to extend your life in years.  But enough of that---I have to quit watching the news while relaxing in bed as I currently am-- because my wife is calling me sweetly for her exquisite chicken parmigiana & garlic bread  (and dandy Italian salad that as custom, I'll add the finishing touch to)

I bought a bike . Safe for covid since it's outdoors and good exercise....

[robert angel]

I bought a bike . Safe for covid since it's outdoors and good exercise....

Heard bike sales have gone through the roof. So have dog adoptions. Shelters have been emptied out in places. I wonder what's gonna happen when all those dog adopters go back to the old nine to five, and start leaving the dogs alone for 8 or 9 hours a stretch for the 1st time.


I remember as a teenager I had a German Short Haired Pointer, Caesar. Caesar didn't like my Grandmother's kitchen dinette chairs vinyl upholstery. In fact, he completely removed said upholstery from four of Grandma's chairs when I left him alone for a bit.


I'll own that, Like Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracey) said of the troubled boys sent to his orphanage in the great classic (1938!) movie "Boys Town" -->"There's no such thing as a bad boy"


She even let me keep the dog.

[mambocowboy]

Heard bike sales have gone through the roof. So have dog adoptions. Shelters have been emptied out in places. I wonder what's gonna happen when all those dog adopters go back to the old nine to five, and start leaving the dogs alone for 8 or 9 hours a stretch for the 1st time.


I remember as a teenager I had a German Short Haired Pointer, Caesar. Caesar didn't like my Grandmother's kitchen dinette chairs vinyl upholstery. In fact, he completely removed said upholstery from four of Grandma's chairs when I left him alone for a bit.


I'll own that, Like Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracey) said of the troubled boys sent to his orphanage in the great classic (1938!) movie "Boys Town" -->"There's no such thing as a bad boy"


She even let me keep the dog.

Yes bike supply cannot keep up with demand.  Didn't know about the dogs. Crazy times...

[robert angel]

My wife is home 24X7 now, as she's able to work her technology job at home, with 2 monitors and her computer tweaked for international phone access and other tricks impossible not so long ago.

It's kinda weird. I like her around, but this isn't quite how I figured it'd happen--not like 'boom'--instantly.

My 22 y/o son in Atlanta, just 2 months into his 100K a year 1st job after college graduation, is doing his AI work for the mega firm he signed on with. He's able to from his posh apartment on a wicked fast PC he self built and 3 big monitors.

He'll be fine.

Both are following company orders.

My 28 y/o son who owns a (used to be) always full a AirBNB is in a bad spot. He rents it from the owner for 4K a month and runs his boutique AirBN out of it. But nobody's booking.

Then he waits tables at a swank place and routinely makes very good pay there--enough income to live off of alone, but now is sh!t out of luck--they're closing for an undetermined length of time.

He asked if he could crash at our house, when push comes to shove....

That it was a miracle that as hard as he tried as a hell raising teen, to break my wife and I up, but couldn't, isn't lost on me.

Meanwhile my wife's all about helping him with food, with him moving back home with us, with his bills, etc.

Amazing woman. "Family stays together, helps each other" she says. Most USA born step mothers would've poisoned his food 15 years ago....

My wife, him and my lazy, 'Do what I please, when I please' self,  are about to experience change--change that's going to require ongoing adjustments, to put it mildly

As I predicted  weeks ago, this isn't gonna be easy, it's only going to get harder, and it isn't going away anytime soon.

Trump said we might see some return to normalcy by July or August.

I'm afraid he's being a bit optimistic....

Been over 4 months since 'shelter in place' was extended in many places. They already called off the 2021 Tournament of Roses Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, So I guess I won't be seeing Michigan's Wolverines in the Rose Bowl either....

[robert angel]

Well, have about written off heading back to Davao City Philippines  anytime soon. Covid-19 has about killed that off for 2020.


Was looking forward to spending a few weeks there at the house. It's a house my wife worked so hard to save up for and paid off. First thing she did was make sure both our names are on the title--I never would've known had she not done so. It's close to a really nice new mall and not far from some great beaches. It needed a little work--we added air con and a 2nd level--her family helped make sure it was done right. We probably have 25K into it, total.


By default, I am also tied to her family's land a couple hours away. It's a largish farm--I know nothing about growing coconuts, rice and fruits and it's wayyy out there. It'd be hilarious---just the thought of my USA, 'city slicker' self trying to run what essentially a plantation, borders on the bizarre. I hope her Mom lives to be 150 years old--she's able to keep it going amazingly well.


The 1st youtube video really resonated with me. It points out how the area has much fewer non natives (tourists) running around and us being still rather novel to them, that they're very friendly. Just a sweet, laid back vibe but with a youthful big city buzz still going on. The 2nd video about expenses is pretty spot on.


It also points out that the area ---out of 110 million people on 7000+ islands, tends to have the highest percentage of friendly, petite morenas--the darker complexion girls, than just about anywhere in the nation. There's still a lot of Spanish blood mixed in there from the 400 years of Spain ruling the whole nation, but the girls around Davao are typically tan as cookies, they look and taste great too. Sooo fresh, clean and sweet. Not too jaded like a lot of Manila and Cebu girls. Province effect.


My wife is certainly morena, petite and pretty IMO. I moan and groan because as she tans after a minute out in the sun, she stays out of sun as much as possible.


I tell her how most USA women would die to have her tan and glowing skin, but she doesn't buy it. Told her how here, women can never be TOO tan, too thin or too rich and that oh well, she's got two out of three here in the USA anyway...


I've noticed that as 'western ways' have invaded the area increasingly and brought foods with saturated fat and other bad stuff with them, how more of the women are heavier than before. But it's still a wonderful place.


Increasingly we talk about the possibility of moving there and a guy could do a lot worse, but I don't think my mind's quite ready for that....




[size=78%]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGbg94Qmmww[/size]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwX0s14JG70

[Calipro]

Well, have about written off heading back to Davao City Philippines  anytime soon. Covid-19 has about killed that off for 2020.


Was looking forward to spending a few weeks there at the house. It's a house my wife worked so hard to save up for and paid off. First thing she did was make sure both our names are on the title--I never would've known had she not done so. It's close to a really nice new mall and not far from some great beaches. It needed a little work--we added air con and a 2nd level--her family helped make sure it was done right. We probably have 25K into it, total.


By default, I am also tied to her family's land a couple hours away. It's a largish farm--I know nothing about growing coconuts, rice and fruits and it's wayyy out there. It'd be hilarious---just the thought of my USA, 'city slicker' self trying to run what essentially a plantation, borders on the bizarre. I hope her Mom lives to be 150 years old--she's able to keep it going amazingly well.


The 1st youtube video really resonated with me. It points out how the area has much fewer non natives (tourists) running around and us being still rather novel to them, that they're very friendly. Just a sweet, laid back vibe but with a youthful big city buzz still going on. The 2nd video about expenses is pretty spot on.


It also points out that the area ---out of 110 million people on 7000+ islands, tends to have the highest percentage of friendly, petite morenas--the darker complexion girls, than just about anywhere in the nation. There's still a lot of Spanish blood mixed in there from the 400 years of Spain ruling the whole nation, but the girls around Davao are typically tan as cookies, they look and taste great too. Sooo fresh, clean and sweet. Not too jaded like a lot of Manila and Cebu girls. Province effect.


My wife is certainly morena, petite and pretty IMO. I moan and groan because as she tans after a minute out in the sun, she stays out of sun as much as possible.


I tell her how most USA women would die to have her tan and glowing skin, but she doesn't buy it. Told her how here, women can never be TOO tan, too thin or too rich and that oh well, she's got two out of three here in the USA anyway...


I've noticed that as 'western ways' have invaded the area increasingly and brought foods with saturated fat and other bad stuff with them, how more of the women are heavier than before. But it's still a wonderful place.


Increasingly we talk about the possibility of moving there and a guy could do a lot worse, but I don't think my mind's quite ready for that....




[size=78%]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGbg94Qmmww[/size]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwX0s14JG70

When I saw the bachelor paradise on the video I thought it would be a bikini contest like this one

https://youtu.be/2Cq86maj2m4

[robert angel]

When I saw the bachelor paradise on the video I thought it would be a bikini contest like this one

https://youtu.be/2Cq86maj2m4

I watched that and even though some of those babes are half the age of my wife, half way through the vid, this came into my head......


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTDv_szmL0

[Elexpatriado]

When I saw the bachelor paradise on the video I thought it would be a bikini contest like this one

https://youtu.be/2Cq86maj2m4

Looks like similar  prices to here in Bucaramanga


Here is somehing for you to do Robert..Compare Bucaramanga to Davao City on Numbeo

[Elexpatriado]

I watched that and even though some of those babes are half the age of my wife, half way through the vid, this came into my head......


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTDv_szmL0

Not me..this is what came into my head..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj9VArxREqY

[robert angel]

Not me..this is what came into my head..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj9VArxREqY

Great clip from a great film. Stanley Kubrick. Hard to believe he's been dead 21 years. At least he died in his sleep around age 70--heart attack.



I think I'm pretty much to the point where my philosophy is along the lines of:A bird in hand is better than two in the bush"---not saying that I don't appreciate the talent 'out in the wild!' After all, I am an incorrigible flirt. Awful--99.9% of the time, I've got the prettiest girl in the room on my arm and there I am rubber necking...When she's still looking hot and I can't find my teeth twenty some years from now, I dunno if that's still gonna fly, LOL. (I have all my teeth)


While it's nothing like Manila or Angeles City (sin city--hooker land) where that bikini contest Calipro put up was, Davao City, it has a lot of pretties out and about. And white guys not being very common, a lot of them at least fantasize about a 'taste' of vanilla and having (making) kids with blue eyes.


If you have two wits to rub together and a crumb of charm, you shouldn't have any trouble getting female company. If you're buying lunch or coffee--all the better.


Cebu City and Manila (especially Makati) probably have the highest density of really stunning girls. They tend to be taller and more jaded--'big city' girls. Like everywhere though (including Davao) the big cities bring people in from the poor countryside, looking for jobs.


They come by the boat loads to Luzon/Manila, which is 7000 islands north of Davao. It's really plausible to compare Davao to the deep south style of Memphis in the USA in that it's like that there--laid back, with a gentler, slower pace of life in DVO more than you'll see in MNL. Sure there's a history of some crazy terrorists, but your odds of getting blown up or physically hurt/robbed are a lot less there than here. Pretty much everyone speaks English---it's like the 4th largest nation of English speakers by number of people----more than in the UK!


Unlike in the USA, where Amazon is killing off the malls, over there malls are really going up bigger and better and with free aircon, they are busy bee hives of socialization. Tons of women. It's amazing how few people are actually spending money (they're broke) but when it's 100+ humid degrees outside and in a lot of homes, they turn out.


The apartment towers and a lot of the nicer subdivisions, are actually built around the malls, which typically also have a big grocery store inside. Night and day difference in terms of what's in their malls compared to ours--the energy, the smiles and laughter, are contagious.  I will never understand exactly why those people--90% of them dirt poor, are SO damn happy!


You can go to deadmalls.com and see the plague of dying and dead deserted malls that represent urban blight across the USA  today. Seeing how they occupy areas considered prime metro real estate, I think some genius is going to perfect turning the dead USA mall anchor stores--the huge 'big box' Sears and Roebucks etc, into condos. There's plenty of parking! I see some of the dead Kmarts are being turned into cold and regular long term storage units.


The Amazon model is not working yet in the Philippines and even as it inevitably makes inroads, I don't think the culture will get any less 'mallcentric.'


And if the beach/resorts and all the nicely done public parks are too hot----if you want to comfortably while away your days or years, people watching over a cup of coffee or a cold one, it's hard to beat the mall scene there.


If we can just put this corona virus nightmare behind us....

[robert angel]

Not me..this is what came into my head..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj9VArxREqY

My best friend, a guy with a few years on me, did FIVE tours of Duty in Vietnam, with 3 different Military branches. He retired as Staff Sergeant, along with being awarded two Purple Hearts. I asked him


"Charlie:-Why the hell would anybody sign off for FIVE tours? during the Vietnam war?"


He replied: "Rob, you don't understand---the pussy was sooooo good"


I guess more than one soldier was mighty glad that STDs were curable with a shot or some pills back then.


He came back to the states, married a USA girl, which failed. He wed a 2nd time, to a Japanese lady and it's been 30 some years and a happy, beautiful family, grandkids etc. since.


"I love you long time" has become part of the western lexicon, in its cliche'd reference to sex and Asian women, to this very day.

[Calipro]

Looks like similar  prices to here in Bucaramanga


Here is somehing for you to do Robert..Compare Bucaramanga to Davao City on Numbeo

Hmmmm.   I don't think I will be going to Bucaramanga anytime soon.

https://youtu.be/CqtVl9y2coM

But if you can really live on 900 bucks a month as this guy claims you can do in Davo then it might be an option for some.

[Elexpatriado]

Hmmmm.   I don't think I will be going to Bucaramanga anytime soon.

https://youtu.be/CqtVl9y2coM

But if you can really live on 900 bucks a month as this guy claims you can do in Davo then it might be an option for some.

There are no orientals in Bucaramanga..only made  reference to that film for "[snip]s and giggles"..not any refernce to anything happening in my l¡fe or Bucaramanga (what bizzare thinking to somehow relate this to BUcarmanga??)


And thats OKay .. I sure wont be going to Medellllin soon with 28,000 cases and quarantine 3 days a week and night curfew.


As a matter of fact I will probably go to Quindio-low case rate and everything is opened up.


If I didnt have emotional attachment and moral responsibity  to someone here, I would go to Canada, and somewhere else with a low case rate  and more freedom, wih the situation under control, when the weather got to cold (Spain in the fall?),


At any rate I will be going back to Canada for back country skiing for 2 months in January and February. First time in 2 years.

[Calipro]

There are no orientals in Bucaramanga..only made  reference to that film for "[snip]s and giggles"..not any refernce to anything happening in my l¡fe or Bucaramanga (what bizzare thinking to somehow relate this to BUcarmanga??)


And thats OKay .. I sure wont be going to Medellllin soon with 28,000 cases and quarantine 3 days a week and night curfew.


As a matter of fact I will probably go to Quindio-low case rate and everything is opened up.


If I didnt have emotional attachment and moral responsibity  to someone here, I would go to Canada, and somewhere else with a low case rate  and more freedom, wih the situation under control, when the weather got to cold (Spain in the fall?),


At any rate I will be going back to Canada for back country skiing for 2 months in January and February. First time in 2 years.

I didn't think there where orientals here ....I was surprised that you compared Davao to Bucaramanga. 

Sounds like you have a child now.. emotional attachment and moral responsibility ...sounds like a parental relationship.

[robert angel]

I didn't think there where orientals here ....I was surprised that you compared Davao to Bucaramanga. 

Sounds like you have a child now.. emotional attachment and moral responsibility ...sounds like a parental relationship.

Awww--come-on now---play fair. "Child"? Isn't she 19 y/o? Legally she's an adult!

[Calipro]

Awww--come-on now---play fair. "Child"? Isn't she 19 y/o? Legally she's an adult!

I'm thinking maybe a couple months old...he was asking me about the fertility clinic I used about a year or so ago.

[mambocowboy]

I'm thinking maybe a couple months old...he was asking me about the fertility clinic I used about a year or so ago.

Expat with a kid?! Man I want to hear more...

[Calipro]

Expat with a kid?! Man I want to hear more...

I don't know that he has a child but he must of been interested in the idea to ask me about the fertility clinic I used.

And now he is emotionally y morally attached .... maybe his girlfriend is pregnant.....it's the only thing that would morally attach me.

[robert angel]

I thought it was his 19 y/o gf.

[Calipro]

I thought it was his 19 y/o gf.

Who gets morally attached to a 19 year old girlfriend unless she has your kid.

[robert angel]

I don't know that he has a child but he must of been interested in the idea to ask me about the fertility clinic I used.

And now he is emotionally y morally attached .... maybe his girlfriend is pregnant.....it's the only thing that would morally attach me.

The only thing that could literally make my life and relationship stronger, literally longer, physically and mentally better, would be a child/ren.


That laughter, the ways they morph as they grow and just captivate our hearts and minds is a powerful elixir.


I had kids relatively late--in 1991 and 1997 and when you're right in the middle of their years, you don't realize the magic in the moments--you're just 'doing it'.


The rich and powerful, the people who seemingly have everything---they more than ever before, want kids into their 60s and even 70's now and we'll go to extreme length and distance to get them. The Brad Pitts, Madonnas and Celine Deons, as well as other walks of life and alleyways. Their families often look like a United Nation's roster.


I guess the next best thing along those lines for me might be grandkids, but I'm not going to push my boys into that until they're ready themselves. At least I had a shot.


Around here, if a trout isn't fourteen inches, you have to throw it back. It just doesn't work like that with your children. Although I must admit, there are times I've wanted to throw them to the sharks....

[Calipro]

The only thing that could literally make my life and relationship stronger, literally longer, physically and mentally better, would be a child/ren.


That laughter, the ways they morph as they grow and just captivate our hearts and minds is a powerful elixir.

So what is holding you back?

There are plenty of things doctors can do now to help your wife conceive.