The Last day of July

Well today is Sunday, the final day in the month of July. When Nora wakes up in the morning it will be Monday and she will have one day left before her interview. I spent most of the day yesterday waiting for the 24 inch iMac and a 27 inch iMac to complete their data migration. It took a total of about 10 hours to get everything completed. It appears to be working the way I want to now. I am using DragonDictate on this journal, however I can see that I am going to have to do some more voice training. I just did another voice training session for Dragon and will do another a little later on… seemed to do ok. I tried to start the lawnmower this morning with the intention of going down and mowing mom’s yard, but a combination of year old gasoline and a dirty spark plug made it necessary for me to go down and get some new gas and clean the plug. After that the lawnmower started just fine. So I went down and mowed the back and the front yards, it looks better than the dandelions. When I got back home I took the blade off of the lawnmower and sharpened it, that should make it cut a little bit better. I just installed version 4.2 of sound studio, because the old version I had which was 2.2.4 was not compatible with lion software. I also had to download a program called lame which allows sound studio to create MP3 files. Chatting with my Sweetie, she woke up a little bit later this morning… she is praying for tomorrow to go well, I am also. Fixing some soup for dinner now, Nora is eating and will soon be on her way to SM I believe… Just finished Text'd ing with Lollie on YM and then we did a FaceTime chat, they were in Starbucks and it was really noisy... Just finished my shower and chatting a little with Lollie, they will be going out to dinner in a few minutes... I chatted a little bit with Nora, watched some television and then went to bed.

First post from the new 27" iMac...

Well today was July 30. I finally got both computers to talk each other and ran the migration assistant. It took a little better than 9 hours for the transfer of all the files from the 24 inch to the 27 inch. And even at that there are some compatibility issues with some of the software that I had installed on the 24. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it but I had to start my journal all over again. I spoke with knowledge to little bit ago she went to church this morning and doesn’t have any particular plans for the rest of the day. I was chatting with her just a moment ago and she excused herself from the conversation saying she had something to do. The gentleman from Comcast came out this morning and it took them only about 5 min. to get my computer back online something about the cabling was bad, because he did not have to replace the modem and router so now I have wireless all through the house and all lights on the modems and routers are the correct colors. I drove to Sweet home this afternoon and bought a large vanilla milkshake, the 1st one I’ve had in over a year and I must admit I really enjoyed it. I can see by this entry that I don’t like the background color so I’m going to go into the inspector and change it to the car I had with the old journal I believe and out on the text was black and the background was a sort of an aqua green color. Anyway this is the 1st entry on my new 27 inch iMac I’m sure the days following will prove quite interesting discovering those things that don’t work perhaps there will be some updates I’m not sure.

Thursday and the 2644 place is done...

Today is Thursday it looks like it will be another beautiful day the sky is blue it was a little bit brisk about 53° this morning. Nora called me about 5:30 AM actually I was asleep and it woke me up which was okay because it’s always nice to hear from her. The children at her watching a soccer game on television and they were quite excited because the Filipinos were winning. Tomorrow morning she will go to St. Luke for her vaccinations plus apparently they want her to pay 450 pesos lab fee for urinalysis which I don’t understand why she would need. I think it’s just another gouge I come to believe that St. Luke is nothing but a money maker for the Philippine government. I went to coffee at about 6 AM and return home by about 7:35 AM I just move the dresser from the garage into Kenneth’s room, I will need help to set it up on its legs and I don’t believe we will be able to use the mirror the way it was designed so I will take the brackets off the back of the dresser and then perhaps just hanging a mirror on the wall. At 9 AM Mike is going to be coming from Albany to pick up the remainder of the stuff for moms garage, then I am supposed to meet Fred from Lebanon auto salvage at 10 o’clock but I’m going to change an appointment to next week. I went down to mom’s and proceeded to put things in the dumpster, Mike showed up about 10 minutes after nine and Larry had already come over to pick up his tool belt and he took a few other things that he thought was worth having. The only things left in the garage now are the roaster pan, the organ and seat and the console stereo. After we put everything else in the dumpster, Mike and I pushed it down here to my home where I loaded it up with the stuff from Kenneth’s room that Melissa had left. The dumpster is pretty near full now. It is now 11:37 AM and I am tired. I am going to take a break for an hour or so after which time I’m not sure what my plans are.

Wednesday, another day closer...

Today is Wednesday the 27th day of July in about a half hour it will actually be 28 July in Marilao. I woke up at about 5:30 AM this morning and called Nora they are experiencing the wet weather associated with the typhoon a lot of rain and wind, but hopefully by Friday, the day she wants to go to St. Luke’s and get her vaccinations, the typhoon will have died down to nothing. About 6 AM I left the house to go to McDonald’s for coffee and then returned home at about 7:30 AM. I then made a little journey and took care of some business. When I got home I cleaned out the back of the pickup with a broom and so now it’s nice and clean again. I have something coming today, a delivery, either Dragon dictate or perhaps something from Apple computer I’m not sure which. I’m hoping that Mike, the fellow who picked up stuff from moms garage yesterday will call me and let me know when he would like to come back and complete the job. Yesterday I put an ad on craigslist for the Harley and also an ad for the upright organ that is still at mom’s house. Perhaps later today I will take a picture or of the console radio/record player that is still there and put an ad on craigslist for that also. I’m asking $35 for the organ which is a steal. I need to call Dr. Thayer today and remind them that they need to reorder my toprol medication. Somehow they failed to include that in the order to EzScripts pharmacy. Other than that I have no specific plans for today, at some point this week I had hoped to go to the credit union and see if I can straighten out that little fiasco. Well I had a situation with my iPhone that I was finally able to fix, I had to jailbreak my phone but now I no longer have a restrictions password and I downloaded an application that allows me to run a program without unlocking my phone. The jailbreak only took about 30 seconds and now I can download any Cydia applications I want. And I really like that. I’ve gotten me extended warranty for my new Mac I also got the magic bar to connect the keyboard and the magic trackpad and my printer showed up today. Del just came over for a visit and stayed for about 45 minutes than he had some place to go and other things to do so he left. After that, I went to Larry’s house and asked if they were going to finish the house and they were concerned that Lori was not going to be paid and I told him that I would pay her $100 making a total of 400 labor for them. The dumpster came today and I put it in the garage. They will go down tonight finish the house, and make sure it’s completely empty and everything left will be in the garage.

Tuesday morning and much to do...

Today is Tuesday it is a bright and beautiful day the sun is shining in a nice blue sky. I spoke with Nora this morning I was actually hoping by the alarm on my phone, after which time I called her. She had a good day yesterday but did not go to the movie as Joyce did not want to go so they went back home about 3 PM. She told me that the teachers at Prenza high school would have Joyce’s transcripts ready by Friday. She also wants Kenneth to go to the college and get a copy of his transcripts. I went to coffee this morning at about 6:25 AM and returned home at approximately 8 AM, did the dishes from yesterday and made some oatmeal for breakfast. I also took the accessories use for my exercise machine and put them in the back of my closet. The lady from Creswell should show up before 10 AM this morning to pick up the stuff for moms house and I will let her look through the things that I am going to throw away that Melissa left here. It’s a lady indeed does show up I will call Allied and cancel the dumpster for tomorrow morning drop-off. That will save us $76. I may go to Wal-Mart today and pick up a bedding set for Kenneth’s room. I will also look at some plastic boxes to put all the Apple stuff that is now on the shelves in. Sometimes it amazes me all the stuff a person can collect over the years. Other than that, I don’t have too much planned for today. Well it is 10:00 AM and the skank from Creswell ain’t here so screw her. The Mike guy from Albany is doing a bang up job of getting stuff out of the garage at Mom’s place... I went down and took some of the stuff out of mom’s bedroom and put in the garage basically just trash. I also took four pictures of the organ and then came home and created an ad on craigslist, I’m going to sell it for $35 cash no haggling. I think I also will take a picture of that console music player and put it in craigslist for $25 cash, hell might as well make a few bucks on that stuff. I will still need the dumpster so I cannot save the $76 bucks but that is ok, it will be split between Lollie and I so that is not too bad. I just want to get done with the house and get it rented/leased. Chatted a bit with Nick this afternoon, that was a nice change.

Monday... a shade over a week and the "Interview" is happening...

Last night I did not sleep all that well the house retained a lot of the heat from yesterday at four clock this morning it was still 75° in the house. Having the quilt on top of the bed didn’t make it any easier. I got up at about 5 AM this morning. Chatting with Nora about 5:30 AM she spent a good portion of the day yesterday at the SM Mall in Marilao. She went the globe and also the smart to find out about getting out more affordable plan for a wireless connection for Jenny and from what she told me and what they offer I think staying with the plan we have which is unlimited time is a better idea. After that she went to the photograph place and had some of the pictures printed off of the Sim card from my camera. She also had new passport pictures taken which she is not very happy with she said they make her look fat and washed out with beady little eyes. I told her to go ahead and just get it fixed. After coffee this morning I need to go to the DMV and get new registration for the Mini Cooper and new plates, I am not going to put custom plates on it again, too much money. It is supposed to be a lot cooler today with the temperature in the low 70° or so. I believe I will mow the lawns this afternoon to get that done, of course first I will rake up the dandelions that I pulled out of the front yard. It is now 5:55 AM and I am going ahead down to McDonald’s for coffee perhaps I’ll buy a breakfast sandwich I am not sure yet. Nora told me that today she will go to Prenza high school and get Joyce’s records. Gonna cost me $114 to re-license the Mini Cooper. Dang it is getting expensive to drive. Well I got the credit reports from Experian, Equifax and Trans Union credit bureaus the only negative on any of them is from LinnCo credit union. After the lady comes to pick up the stuff from mom’s garage tomorrow, I will go to the credit union and see what we can do about changing the negative rating. I hired the neighbor guy that Mexican to do my yard weed the front and back and take care of the necessary backbreaking work so that I would have a baseline to start getting the yard in order again. Been chatting with Nora and Lollie… I enjoy talking to both of them, Nora has been telling me that there’s another typhoon working its way through the northwestern part of Luzon so that will probably dump a lot of rain in the Manila area and in the area that she is living. I just finished some chicken rotelle soup with a couple slices of whole wheat bread and a little butter and had comprised dinner, then I washed up the dinner dishes, clean the counter tops and am done for the night. I did not have any lunch today. Well, with the exception of two in butter cookies but that was it. I told Laura to go ahead and move the bed and put some pots down on the floor to catch the water, something we are or were quite used to doing when the rain comes hard. I hope it’s not raining too hard when she goes to Manila.

Sunday morning... the demise of the closet

Sunday morning. The sky is a little bit overcast and I have not checked to see what the forecast will be for today. It is quite doubtful that there will be any rain. I may go back out to the backyard and see if I missed any of the dandelions and if I did all pull them up and then I’ll take the ones that I pulled up yesterday out to the pickup load them up. I just finished speaking with Nora she had left me a message just a moment or two before telling me that she was very tired and going to sleep and that I should just leave her a message. I typed “goodnight honey” to her and a moment later she responded so we chatted for just a little bit then I called her and talk to her for a couple minutes and told her to have a good night sleep well and have nice dreams then we hung up. The fact of the matter is today’s the 24th here in America and soon will be the 25th for her there in the Philippines. The month of July is almost gone and her visa appointment is right around the corner. I pray to God that her visa interview goes well. The only thing that could give her any trouble but I know of would be to security clearance but even I don’t understand how that could really be a problem, but you never know what the counselor will decide. I’ve got the house almost done, I still need to clean out Kenneth’s closet and I have a few things to pick up off the floor in our room. I still need to figure out where to put the organ I’m not sure about that just yet I might put it back in Kenneth’s room for the time being. Well I am thirsty so I think I will go to McDonald’s and have coffee and after that I can come home, change clothes, and get on with the rest of the day. Had coffee, Ralph was there. I left about 7:30 AM to come back home at which time I started cleaning out the bedroom closet in Kenneth’s room. I’ve got that done, I used the filing cabinet as a storage place for some of the laundry accessories such as soft scrub and little paper things you put in the dryer to keep stuff from clinging together. I also stored some paperwork of my own in the second from the bottom drawer. It will serve a better purpose in the garage than it did in the closet. I vacuumed the closet floor so it is ready now for the transfer of clothing from my room or I should say Nora and I’s bedroom closet. But she wants me to wait until she gets here before we make the switch so I will. It’s 11 AM now I think I’m done for a while. I will post this for anyone who cares to read it. I decided to go to the front yard and pull out some of those pesky dandylions, my gosh there were a bunch of ‘em. The tool I use takes a little plug of earth with it when it gets the dandylion so I have all these little holes in the yard... Someday I want to have it tilled up and a new lawn put in. Maybe. Chatting with Lollie on FaceTime now, she is fixing their coffee drinks now and I hear her but cannot see anything of her, just the dining room table... I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with some milk for lunch... It it 4:24 PM and I have been chatting with Nora for about 35 minutes now, she had to go to the CR for a little bit and will call me back when she is finished... She needs to go to Prenza High School and arrange to get all of Joyce’s records and then to SM Mall to check on the debit card for Jenny and also the rates for shipping a box home thru DHL. Just hung up from chatting with Nora, she will call before she goes to SM Mall...

A Beautiful Saturday morning and I have already done good work.

The picture is my Grandson 'denny russel', wonder where that came from?? The sky is blue and it is a beautiful Saturday morning. I have a few minor things to do inside the house a few things I need to put away and I want to put the mattress for Kenneth’s bed outside so that it can air out. It looks to me like I had better get the lawnmower out and mow the grass, and I may get out the machete and trim back to stump it used to be the cherry tree in the backyard. Last night I slept horribly, I don’t know why but since returning from the Philippines my sleep habits have been sporadic and not very restful. I woke this morning at 3 AM and could not go back to sleep, eventually I dozed off for about a half hour and then at 7:30 AM I gave up and got out of bed, took my shower and prepared to greet the day. I had called Nora at 3 AM to chat with her as I couldn’t sleep, but never did get an answer. I sent her a couple of instant messages and she called me at about 4:30 AM. She of course is worried about why I’m not sleeping and I told her that it was because I didn’t have my little brown sleeping pill next to me in bed. I just sent to Kenneth video that shows you how easy it is to enable FaceTime on the iPhone 3GS. I hope all work for him. It would be nice to be able to have that capability when Jenny has only that phone to communicate with us. Went to the back yard and picked up the stuff I pulled up a few days ago and put it in the Toyota then proceeded to hack the new growth out of the cherry tree stump, cleaned up the carport a bit and got a call from Freddy, he will be here in an hour or so for some liquid refreshments.

Thursday... 9 days to go

Well today is actually July 23 of the year 2011 in the Philippine Islands. Nine more days and Nora will appear at the US Embassy for her visa interview. It is my hope that it all goes well and she doesn’t have to do anything else. If it all works out the way it’s supposed to she will be told at the end of the interview that she will get her visa. Then as soon as she receives her Visa package she will be able to take the children and her and attend the CFO seminar which is a two-hour but likely one whole day seminar. Once they are finished with that their visa will be stamped and they will be allowed to board the aircraft when she has bought the tickets. That will be a great day and an even greater day will be when I go to Portland to pick her up. It is overcast outside today and I’m not sure what the weather forecast is, but it may rain or not. My plan for the day is to probably empty the bedroom that Kenneth will occupy and get it cleaned up in preparation for putting in the double bed from mom’s house. Had coffee at McDonald’s I left here about 6 AM and then got back home at about 7:50 AM. Just made some toast and Hot Chocolate for breakfast... hope it warms up soon, I have things to do. Just ordered my new 27” iMac and an HP Printer that is wireless and supports Airprint so we will be able to print from any device, iPad, iPhone or any other device... I just ordered a small bumps or to be placed at 2644 S. 11th St. it will come next Wednesday and each time it’s emptied there is a $76 charge. I have prepaid the first $76 using my debit card. When I get the receipt I will send that to Gareth and he can reimburse me for half of the fee. I just went down and got the Hollywood frame and also the headboard for the bed that will go into Kenneth’s bedroom. In a little while I will start emptying out that bedroom. Well everything except for the bookcase and the shelving has been removed from Kenneth’s room, I have the bed rails and the headboard in there and get a little while I will get out the bolts and nuts and attached a headboard to the rails then I will probably go down to mom’s house and get the mattress and box springs and bring them back up here I can put the box springs on but Nora wants me to air out the mattress. Had a great chat with Gareth and Lollie, they are finally moving and getting things done, Gareth is going to get some housework done now. Chatting with Nora, she seems pretty pre-occupied with baby denny and his antics... I made some chicken noodle soup for dinner accompanied with two pieces of toast w/butter.

Today is maybe "Fix the bedroom" day, I will work on Kenneth's room...

I overslept this morning I didn’t wake up until 7 AM and of course when I signed on to Yahoo messenger I had a ton of messages from Nora as I had not called her at six which I normally would do. She was worried about me, so I immediately called her and told her what had happened that I had drank a couple of beers and then took two Tylenol PMs and that I had just really slept soundly but was okay. She was happy about that and was able at that time to go to bed and go to sleep. She does worry about me a lot and that is greatly appreciated. I went down to McDonald’s at about 7:30 AM and just got home it is now 9:15 AM. I cut some dandelions out of the cracks in the pavement and while I was doing so discovered a nest of ants so I sprayed them with ant poison. I have the ability to eradicate them from around the home I will not put up with ants anymore. It is overcast today and I felt a mist in the air which tells me it probably will rain today, I wouldn’t be at all surprised. I put together a list of a few things that I needed to get and then went out to Wal-Mart to pick them up. While I was there I bought a remote control to let and also bought what I thought was a wireless Hewlett-Packard printer when I got the printer home and went to attach it to the computer I found it was not wireless. I packed everything up including the switch didn’t work and took it back to Wal-Mart and got a refund. On the way home I stopped at Papa Murphy’s pizza and picked up a good chicken salad for dinner tonight. After I got home I took the beer glasses out of the freezer in the refrigerator and the house and put them in the freezer and refrigerator in the garage. I have been talking to lolly and Gareth on face time both computer to computer and also computer to iPhone all seem to be working quite nicely. Earlier today I called Apple to find out if the new iMacs would be shipping with lion or if they would be shipping with snow leopard installed. They did not have an answer for me so I did not order one yet. I may tomorrow, but I’m not sure. Chatted a little bit with Dorothy and also Joyce... she is a good kid.. it’s tough there though.

Wednesday or otherwise known as "Refrigerator" day...

Good morning everyone. Today is Wednesday, July 20 and I have a cold. I really have no idea where this cold came from I seem to have missed a running nose part and gone right into the hacking cough stage. I may stop after coffee and get some cough medicine or some lozenges. I went to bed last night at about 9:30 PM. I woke up the first time at about 1 AM needing to use the restroom. And the rest of the time in bed was restless. I had a dream actually I had several dreams but in one of them I remember the address of 621 Franklin St. I don’t know why. If this cough would break up and I could expel some mucus it would help, but right now my throat really feels tight. This is probably one of the occasions where I’m glad Nora and the children are not around. If I can get rid of this cough/cold before they arrive it would be nice. I do know that Nora has a cold also she had complained about a runny nose and sore throat so maybe mine is a sympathy cold. At 6 AM I will go down to McDonald’s for coffee in the meantime I will see what kind of mail has come in overnight. After I return home from McDonald’s, I preceded to finish the work on the refrigerator by swapping the door to open on the correct side and installing all the shelving and drawers. It is now plugged in and cooling and this afternoon I will put the food from the other refrigerator into it and possibly move the other refrigerator out to the garage. I just ordered my free annual credit reports from the three reporting bureaus it will take about two weeks for them to arrive. I decided to go down to the substation and have a sandwich so I had a turkey bacon avocado sub, an 8 inch one. Have a glass of water to drink and a small bag of Lays chips. Came back home and emptied the refrigerator that was in the kitchen on the countertops and then put everything in the new refrigerator that I got from mom’s place. I took the old refrigerator out the front door and installed it in the garage and reloaded it lists the various drinks and whatnot that I had in there before. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of Larry or Laurie today, don’t know what they are doing but they are not working at mom’s house today. I saw that Maria was online so I chatted with her for a while and she suggested that I add her daughter Annalisa as a friend on both Facebook and Yahoo messenger which I did. I also saw while I was on Facebook that Donna was online and so I chatted with her for a little bit she is still feeling a lot of pain and hurt and has a long ways to go before her relationship with Hal will be healed if ever. Nora came on at about 6:45 AM her time so we chatted for a little bit and now she’s doing something and will be back a little bit later. She plans to go to SM mall today and check on the BDO debit card for Jenny. I got a lot done today the refrigerator saga is now complete, and the next thing that I need to complete is a cleaning of the room Kenneth will have. I will move the stuff into the garage temporarily then clean the carpet vacuum and really good then I will put together the bed from down at moms for him to use.

First post since returning to the States... It's good to be home...

Well I must admit that last night I slept like a baby, about 8:30 PM I took an Ambien and by the time I had finished my shower I was already sleepy so I went to bed, fell asleep almost immediately and did not awaken until 5:30 AM this morning. I feel very refreshed and wide awake. I went to McDonald’s for coffee this morning, chatted with the usual characters and then, I thought that the city of Lebanon utilities would be open at 8 AM, however they do not open until 9 AM. I then went back to mom’s house, and finished putting the doors on the refrigerator that I took down there yesterday so that it will be ready to go back in its place next to the stove after Larry and Lori finish cleaning the kitchen. While at McDonald’s I had the opportunity to talk to Nora, she was getting ready to go to bed so I told her to have sweet dreams and that I would talk to her when she woke up in the morning. It is now 9 AM and I am here at the house, will catch up on a little computer stuff and then go down to the city utility office and turn on the water at 2644. I just sent in an application to reinstate the water service at 2644, I had to pay a $10 credit search and fill out a long application document. On the way back home from the water company, I stopped at 2644 and finished putting on the doors to the refrigerator that will live there and then brought moms old refrigerator back to the house. I cleaned it up really good inside and out and will reassemble it later and then to make the switch with the one that is in our kitchen now. I just went through another fiasco with smile on my Mac trying to upgrade my PDF pen software to PDF pen pro. What a hassle, but I have it done now. I cleaned up mom’s refrigerator and tomorrow I will probably move it into the house and began reassembling it I will put most of it together in the garage but I want to bring it in-house without the doors attached, which will make it much easier to move. I do believe that Nora will really like this refrigerator I know I do. I will get the serial and model number and takedown to Brian at Kellenberger’s to see if we can order an icemaker for it. Got all the shelves put back together for the new fridge, dried the drawers so now tomorrow, I will prepare to change over the way the doors open and put it all in the house... after which I will swap over the food then take the other refer out into the garage for a cleaning also.

My last day in the Philippines... at least for now.

Jul 10, 2011

This is it... departure day, separation from my lovely bride and children... for at least a month, hopefully they will leave the Philippines on or about the 15th of Aug if all goes well...

Yesterday was a good day, but all day it rained so we stayed at home.

Last night sleep started off really good, but then Nora got up sometime early this morning to use the bathroom and when she returned to bed she couldn't fall asleep so it was tossing and turning and churning and thumping and banging... gosh she is terrible when she cannot sleep... I sometimes think at home maybe we will have to get twin beds so she don't keep me up. Maybe I will just tell her to drag her carcass out to the living room and sleep on the couch... after all, they are comfortable.

Anyway, we missed the 7am mass at the church so now she wants to go to the 8:30 mass... I could miss it but won't.

After we get back home we will see what the afternoon brings... if the weather clears, we might go to SM Mall.

~ Say what you mean
Mean what you say...

My last 'Full day' here... off to Oregon tomorrow

Jul 09, 2011

Saturday morning, 7:55 AM. This is my last Saturday here in the Philippines, tomorrow evening it's off to the airport and then a few minutes after midnight I depart to Seoul for a 10+ hour layover then we go to San Francisco for yet another 10+ hour layover and then finally take off for Portland and the 2 hour drive home... Been a very interesting and happy and frustrating year to say the least.

I bring home with me the fact that I am once again married and a father to grown children and Grandfather to one new grandson... I can honestly say that at 67 years of age this is a remarkable undertaking for me... I cannot say that my life is dull at this time... fading into old age with no pomp or circumstance just was not in my plans... I am young at heart and hopefully the good Lord will have at least another 35 years for me to play the game.

When it is finally time for me to check out of this life hotel, I will take with me many fine memories and hopefully I can leave good memories behind me also... I know my wife and children (present tense) will have a much better chance at a good life because of me having been in their life. I am far from perfect and need tuning up all the time but I ain't a half bad ride... After all, only one perfect man ever walked this earth and he and no-one else is my constant mentor... Thank you God for all you have allowed me to experience, the good and the bad have shaped me and give me reason to continue my quest...

Nora is currently having some of Gareth's famed ailment but she is going to Divine to buy food and will stop at the pharmacy and get some ducolax to take care of that... she is a very regular person so this is a little out of character for her.

Just about 15 minutes ago we had a heavy but short squall run thru, thoroughly dampening everything and causing our ceiling to leak once again... I won't miss that!!!

Sad/Happy I guess is the internal mood that I am experiencing at the moment, but I will be so busy once home that I won't have time to moan and cry about things...

If more happens worth writing about today I will surely let you know...

~ Say what you mean
Mean what you say...

Open an account for Jenny and deposit funds...

Jul 08, 2011

Yesterday was truly a good day, Nora did laundry, I helped her a little and so did Jenny.

We got a chance to talk to Jenny some and tell her the things that she needs to be careful of, especially letting people her know anything about her financial situation... unfortunately, if they know she has a budget, they will all try to borrow from her and that would cause big problems for her. We told her to keep any information about how much she gets and what she has available strictly to herself... no friends or relatives should know anything about her finances.

Today, Nora and I and Jenny will be going to open an account for Jenny at BDO bank so that I can set up a recurring transfer thru what ever means I choose to fund her budget each month... that way she doesn't have to get the entire amount into her hands at one time, rather she can debit the account on a weekly basis which leaves the brunt of her budget safe in the bank... easy to lose money.

I will be putting the abundance of the money I had sent over here in either Jennys account or Nora's. We will discuss that.

We slept good last night, it has remained cooler since the low pressure areas have been around.

Nora told me yesterday that she wants to buy the ingredients to make spaghetti, she knows it is one of my favorite dishes here that she makes. We will likely go to a movie also if there is something good showing. It will be our last one until she is in the States.

Weather looks a little on the hazy side, it seems to go to hell in the afternoons.

••• Went to SM Mall and opened an account for JennyLyn at the BDO bank and deposited 100,000p (we will use a lot of that to buy Nora and kids plane tickets... but safer in the bank than here at home.  She will be able to access her budget funds via a ATM card or going to the counter.

Have a great day everyone...

~ Say what you mean Mean what you say...

Thursday, clothes day, laundry etc... yuk!!!

Jul 07, 2011

Thursday already... Sunday will come quickly now. It is 7:36 AM now, I just finished my morning bath and am updating, as you can see, this daily journal...

Nora just brought me coffee, she woke with a pounding headache this morning, we had no water so I got up and went in the back factory and got a bottle full of water and then returned and gave Nora an excedrin... that usually gets rid of the headaches pretty fast... always works for me, much better than tylenol or asprin.

Today will be a day of laundry as there is really nothing much we can do until it is time for Nora's interview.

I see the neighbor lady building a pile of trash just on the other side of the short cement wall that separates our compound and the open field in front of this apartment. She will soon set it on fire and then the air will stink while it smoulders, trying to burn damp items and plastic bags and containers... The air here, that we breath is in my estimation quite dangerous with all the toxins that are released thru the burning of garbage, exhaust from all the ill-tuned vehicles and 2-cycle motor scooters... it is most of the time so bad that you really need to cover your mouth and nose with a rag to help filter out the smoke.

Yesterday was a pretty up day for everyone, the kids really like the visa page of their passports and Nora is so happy that they have them. Now just waiting for her to get hers and all will be good, I told her that I want her on a plane as quickly as is possible after they attend the CFO seminar for departing Filipinos that she and the kids must attend.

We will go to the Mall on Saturday, I need to print out Nora's confirmation email for her interview appointment and we will go to another movie I would imagine.

Today, Nora and I will set Jenny down and hopefully give her some insight on how to conduct her affairs while she is here, especially those concerning her budget... We plan to warn her from ever talking about how much money she is getting or has and to never loan anyone any money at all... people here have great intentions of repaying, but it never happens and Jenny will not have enough to give to anyone else. Alex and Ana would be on her to borrow just like they did me.

This will be some learning experience for her.

Well so much for this days entries which actually just a summation of yesterday and declaration of intent for today... WoWeeeeeeee !!!

••• A moment ago, just after I penned this days entry, the sky opened up and a Monsoon dumped a ton of water in an exceedingly heavy downpour... now it is stopped but more will come because of a large low pressure area that is passing over this region...

~ Say what you mean Mean what you say...

Hopefully the end at St. Lukes will be today...

Jul 06, 2011

Yesterday was a Great day, starting out with the email that informed us the children had been issued their Visa's... the day progressed pretty good I must say... Nora finally got thru to St. Lukes clinic so she will be going there this morning for her vaccinations and to be released from St. Lukes clinic.

Last night, I got online and connected to the US Embassy to make the Visa interview appt. for Nora, would you not believe it, the first opening they have now is Aug 2. That means that she will not receive her visa until at least Aug 7, then she has to go to the CFO seminar for departing filipinos (her and the kids) the seminar is only two hours but takes nearly a day to complete and costs an additional 650p per person... She attend the CFO seminar until she has the visa as they need to stamp it with a seal to prove she attended it... it is all tied together here, politics, graft and whatever else can complicate a process they have down to a fine art here.

Nora's latest worry is that her Taiwan police clearance will not be valid because it is from 2009... it should be valid because she has not left the Philippines since getting it but who knows what the consular will say. Her medical is only good for 3 months after the last sputum results were released (June 14) so she has to leave the country before Sept 14 or she will have to do the whole medical process over again... I am praying that all is OK,

Nicholas is back on FaceBook it appears and he sure seems nice. I have missed chatting with him and hope to renew that experience once I get home. I miss the little shit.

Hope that all goes well at St. Lukes clinic for Nora today, having that finished will be wonderful.

A chicken just walked in front of our doorway and took a shit... Gosh, I will really miss these wonderful experiences when I leave (NOT).

~ Say what you mean
Mean what you say...

Tuesday... waiting for St. Luke and the Embassy. Good news would be nice.

Jul 05, 2011

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY AMERICA... Even though here in the Philippines it is actually now the 5th. 15 hours difference in time.

All US government offices were closed yesterday here in the Metro Manila area so the US Embassy was also closed... nothing to get or hear from them... Hope that we hear from them today.

Nora will call St. Lukes clinic again today to see if she can get her vaccinations and finish there so I can hopefully schedule her for her Visa interview for next week.

I also hope that we hear about the childrens Visa's this week, the Embassy has had the paperwork for over two weeks now...

We slept pretty good weatherwise, but Nora is in worry mode now about the visa's so she was having trouble getting her mind to unwind and let her slip into restful sleep... she eventually did after beating the hell out of the sheets with her tossing vocanic little body all over the place...

Hope and pray that we get some positive news today, I want to be able to go to the Airport on Sunday with a positive note...

Yesterday evening, I gave Kenneth 2,000p to take to Marilao and pay the electric bill for last month...

••• Here is the kind of message you like to get from the Government...

We are pleased to inform you that immigrant visas were issued to Mark and Joyce Balisbis on June 30, 2011.  The visa packets will be delivered to the applicants’ designated address by guaranteed courier service.     Immigrant Visa Correspondence Unit Consular Section U.S. Embassy, Manila 1201 Roxas Boulevard 1000 Manila, Philippines Telephone: (632) 301-2000 Fax: (632) 301-2591 /mbp     -----Original Message----- From: ~ denny [mailto:gambuchi@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 1:14 PM To: Manila IV Correspondence Unit Subject: Balisbis,Mark Kenneth MNL2011699062 CR-2 pri date N/A -- Balisbis,Joyce Anne MNL 2011699063 CR-2 pri date N/A   Can you please report the current status of these two cases?    Thank you sincerely,   Dennis R Stanley     ~ Say what you mean Mean what you say...

My last Monday here in the philippines...

Jul 04, 2011

Here, it is already 4 July, and also it will be a good day, but the Holiday we Americans celebrate is yet to come in the USA. That my partiotic friends has yet to dawn. But celebrate it we will, as Americans of a Free Country... This is the first one I will have missed in many a year, actually since I was in VietNam so many years ago.

Here, they don't celebrate the fourth of July as we do as it is not Independence day here, they already had theirs...

Today is starting like yesterday, primarily a clear sky but some distant clouds and just a tad hazy...

We slept good considering the weather was cooler.

Alex is being tricky now about money, I told him the other day I don't like him talking to Nora about borrowing money, it is my money and he thinks that he can convince her to get me to loan the money... that is just plain chickenshit and backstabbing as far as I am concerned. Just now Nora asked me if I would loan her 2,000p and when I pressed her for the reason, it was to loan it to Alex... who faithfully promised her he would pay it back tomorrow... but tomorrow doesn't always come in a timely fashion... I don't like people who go behind my back to get something... and then he asked Ana to ask Nora, really manly of him...

I just finished coffee and an egg/toast sandwich for breakfast... just before that, I had a heart to heart talk with Joyce about her displays of stubborness that have been rising lately with Nora... I told her that I would not stand for any of the children disrespecting Nora or I and that even if they are mad there is no excuse for raising their voices to their parents... period. She acknowledged it and I made certain that she knew that I was not going to put up with it. Hopefully that will curb those outbursts... I also need to retrain Nora to not always elevate her voice when talking to her children or me for that matter...

Nora is buying fish for lunch or dinner from one of the walk-thru vendors that frequent the neighborhood on a daily basis...

Nora is to call St. Lukes clinic this morning about 10am to see when she can get her vaccinations and complete the remedical... shots are all she is lacking. Then I can schedule her a Visa interview appt.

I will continue this later should more happen worth penning...

••• Even though it goes against my better judgment, when Ana came to me and asked to borrow 2,000p until tomorrow morning and solemly promised me that it will be repaid tomorrow morning, I finally relented and loaned it to her...

~ Say what you mean Mean what you say...

Next Sunday is my last one here in the philippines...

Jul 03, 2011

Tomorrow is Independence Day, "The Fourth of Juy" in America, the day we celebrate the independence of the United States... a great Holiday that will be celebrated all over the country...

Today starts out with mostly blue skies and at 6:27 AM that is a good way to start out a Sunday morning.

Nora and I went to the Mall yesterday and we saw the movie 'Transformers' which was a well done movie of the Robotic based theme. It was hard for me to follow some of the story lines but I got the gist of it down pretty good... Nora really enjoyed it and we are sending the kids to see it today...

We stopped and had lunch at a Filipino version of Kenny Rodgers restaurant, I have yet to have a meal at the mall that I actually really enjoyed... I endure them as they are the choices available but at each setting I find myself comparing them to the cuisine that is available to me in the United States.. There really is no comparison though. I will soon be back to normal Progresso ingestion and utensils that make sense to me and not seeing people eat with their fingers which sufficed in years gone past but seems a little pre historic to me presently...

'Twill be an interesting transition for my family to make although they do eat with utinsils most of the time it is a fork and spoon with the noticeable absense of a knife... the particulars of a meas are not cut with a knife but rather kitchen shears... effective but different to me.

We slept good last night, the weather having cooled and the oppressive humidity having given us a break.

I finished yet another book, this one called 'Bubba and the Dead Woman', unlike it's title, it really was a descent book.

We will go to early Mass at the church this morning and scoot the kids off right after lunch...

Hoping you have a great day...

~ Say what you mean
Mean what you say...

Time is passing... quicker now as the day approaches...

Jul 02, 2011

Amour is a compelling and driving elixir of the good life, that which clouds the minds of men and women alike (and small dogs and bunnies too). The affection shown by my wife in the last few days has been nothing short of amazing... the reality of the pending separation I am sure is the driving force for this most welcome display. I would love to keep that feeling 24/7/365 to coin a modern but much overused phrase...

Today we shall venture forth once more to the world of overcrowded malls and human masses... a movie and Nora also gave me a list of at least a dozen things she wants to eat... amazing lady she is, but her eyes are always bigger than her tummy. We will eat lunch there, but not quite to the excess she envisions.

Yesterday I received the last of the 3 deliveries of cash from RemitHome, $3,000 total American funds a little over 120,000p in Philippines money... it varies daily, the last delivery was 50p down from the other two...

I wanted to have enough to hopefully pay for the airline tickets and any other fees that will mysteriously appear as we weedle our way thru the remaining hoops to getting my family home...

We did not get anything from the Embassy last week except for when I sent an email query as to the state of Kenneth's visa and was informed that it had been forwarded to a consular for review... I have no idea where it is in the queue as I am sure there are many to be sorted thru... Hopefully we will receive information in the coming week of a positive nature... I also hope to schedule Nora's Visa interview either she gets her vaccinations on hopefully monday or Tuesday at the latest. It will likely be for the 2nd week in July.

In this wonderful endeavor, the only certainty is uncertainty. But with high spirits and a raised blade I go forth to make my way thru the jungles of foreign governmental buearacuracy... sludging most likely in the quicksands that mire the real estate...

Chin up old chap... things ALWAYS could be worse...

~ Say what you mean
Mean what you say...