788 replies to this topic

[Legend]

well played mac.
it sounds like you have to get up early to catch you out.
another excellent update.

[petesie]

Someone was delusional and I'm sure glad it wasn't you..

Good story mate, glad to hear you had your marbles about you...

[BigTel]

Good to read you were on the ball regarding their insurance pitch Mac and stuck to your guns, nice one .

[kliome]

Thanks for the upatde Mac, enjoying it.

You know what you are doing with the golf, play it just like you would watching ladyboy porn; don't over think it and enjoy every stroke..

I just played 18 holes with Dazed&Confused, got off to a terrible start losing two balls to the water on the first hole. Didn't start enjoying it until I finally started laughing at my errors and ignoring the score card, and I actually had a more respectable back 9.

Good luck!

[pacman]

Your "friend's" intentions are starting to come clear. Sign you up for a huge insurance policy that no doubt pays a big commission up-front, then keep you happy with invites to social functions.

Let's see how far the hospitality extends once they understand you have rejected their "generosity".

Far be it for me to suggest they are hypocrites but I will bet the contact becomes something other than "close friends".

Please keep us informed how things develop from here. I love the feeling of being a fly-on-the-wall in your PI adventure.

[Macman]

Thanks for the comments on that insurance bit, guys. I have to appreciate the way Angel reacted too. Even though they were putting stars in her eyes by telling her of the fortune she'd receive at age 60 if she made 10 years of payments, she was quick to mention that we were still feeling out our relationship. She also told them that even if we're sure it'll work, we have other priorities right now (car, furniture, etc.). She's very level-headed, and I honestly believe that this is not just a money thing with her.

Isn't golf the craziest game ever invented, Kliome? The harder you try, the worse you do.

Macman

[Macman]

Pacman, your post came while I was composing mine, so I didn't see it until I finished. I don't think it's the guys as much as the wife. She seems a right hustler. Yesterday morning, when my friend picked me up, I bounced it off him. I said that I hope Mo won't be offended if we decline. That's when he told me that the wife tried hard-selling him as well. He said that Mo was not at all upset. He seemed to know what his daughter-in-law was like. It was actually Mo (the father) who asked his son to invite me to the dinner commemorating his late wife. He's also one of the guys who keeps urging me to trust no one. Maybe he had his daughter-in-law in mind when he said that.

Macman

[Surin Nix]

Well I thought the insurance deal sounded pretty good!

Reminds me of that saying that goes something like:

Question: "What's the best way to make a small fortune in the PI (or LOS, etc)?"

Answer: "Start with a large fortune and invest it".

The more I hear about Angel, the more I think you've found, well, an angel.

Nix

[Macman]

Yeah, I know what you mean, Nix, but I'm probably going to have to invest in something here, or at least put a large chunk in a Philippine bank, if I plan to stay here permanently. Another avenue is marriage to a Filipina, but obviously we can't do that.

Well, I played the tournament. I started out well, getting a par on the first hole. I had a fair share of pars, but also had a few disaster holes. I walked the course, as is my custom, while my partners all rode. Back in the States, I used to play 4 or 5 times a week on a very hilly course, and always walked, either with a push/pull cart or carrying my bag. Here, on a very flat terrain and with a caddy to carry my bag, I was dragging my ass all over the course by the 13th hole. It's the damn heat. We started at 7:00 AM, about an hour and 45 minutes later than we usually start, and finished at around 11:45, about 4 hours later than we usually finish. That gave the sun ample opportunity to try and kill me. I also have a nice case of sun poisoning on my lower lip, thanks to last week's beach trip and my subsequent sunning episodes during the week, plus playing Thursday afternoon because we were rained out in the morning. (Shhhh, Don't tell Pacman. I don't want to hear any I-told-you-so's". I wouldn't have put sun screen on my lips anyway, so ...) I'm fine though, but I played like crap towards the end. I had a 10 on a par 5 that I usually par. As for my lip, 2 nurses told me to stay out of the sun for 5 days, at least during high-risk hours. I'll still play my regular games because of the early finish time.

After the tournament, Al came over to me during lunch, and said that his wife and Angel would be coming out at around 1:00 Pm to pick us up. At 1:30, he went downstairs, came back and told me that they were there, and he'd be leaving. He suggested that I stay and let them take Angel back home, because the raffle had some pretty good prizes (along with very minor ones), and you had to be present to win the major ones. We were also in a club meeting, and I figured I should stay for that, even though I didn't understand a thing because it was all in Bisaya. I went down to tell Angel to go back with Al and his wife. Naturally she rushed over to me, hugged me, kissed my cheek, and took my picture. The caddies were all hanging around down there because they hadn't been payed yet. (I don't know why the club didn't pay them immediately after the round, instead of making them hang around for 2 1/2 hours. They had collected our entrance fees before the matches started.) You had to see them checking us out. I won a pretty nice fan, by the way. I also got to meet a lot of the local movers and shakers; always a plus in this country.

I know what you're thinking (especially you, Packers). You think Al and his wife wanted to get Angel alone for some more hard selling. I figured the same thing. Not so. Angel said that the wife was very understanding about us having other priorities. When she came to our place, instead of meeting her on the road, Angel invited here in to our place. She told me that she wanted her to see that there were many things we still needed to buy; that I wasn't some rich American. For example, we have an old tube television. Yes I could buy a flat screen (which are very expensive here), but I told Angel that we have to save for things like that out of our monthly budget,and she understands that. We also need a couch. Anyway, it worked out very well, and the couple is still very friendly towards us. I'm sure the selling push will revisit us down the road, but that's fine. (British empire people say, "the couple ARE still friendly ...," right? American English uses it as a "collective noun". I used to watch a lot of hockey, and at first I thought the Canadian announcers were ignorant. I'd hear them say things like, "Montreal are really skating well now." After hearing it by so many obviously intelligent people, I eventually caught on.)

Well, no worries about getting into any sun trouble today. It's pouring.

Macman

[Surin Nix]

Mac, I'd suggest you take Tiger's advice out there:

[Macman]

Nix, the only way that would have helped is if I wore it over my head. Other than that, no need. I only play one course nowadays.

Macman

[Macman]

Well, I'm going to buy a used SUV. It's hard for me to get used to the prices of cars here, but there's no getting around the fact that I have to buy one. If it weren't for golf, I could probably get by without it. I had an offer on a nice Honda CRV, but it was an automatic, and very expensive. It's much more advisable to have a manual transmission that uses diesel fuel here, so I'm getting a Mitsubishi Adenture.

Angel called Immigration yesterday to see if my ACR card was ready to be picked up. Guess what? It wasn't processed. They said that we forgot to send them one item that is required; the receipt of my visa extension. They said they had no contact number for us, so it's just been sitting there. It's really nuts. They issue me the extension, and then they require that I photostat the receipt of the extension that they issue. Huh?? Plus, you pay for everything. If they have to send something to the main office in Manila, you pay the postage.

One more thing that takes getting used to is the constant presence of firearms. There's an armed guard anywhere and everywhere at which there's a possibility of cash being on hand; ATMs in front of banks, inside the bank, the golf course (ffs), the malls. There's even one in a small restaurant to which we sometimes go. I'm not talking about a fancy restaurant; this is about as informal as you can get, and it's not even enclosed - it's open with a roof over it. The food here is extremely inexpensive, and this place is never crowded (we're often the only customers), so there can't be a lot of money around. It's strange to walk into the shack that serves as our club house and see a guy with a submachine gun standing there. He's a very friendly guy, but jeez ...

Macman