11 November 2023

** Happy Veteran's Day to all my fellow vets out there.***

Today is the first day of the Mango Convenient Store Grand Re-Opening. They are a little behind schedule, but that's normal in the Philippines. I just left there. I was their first customer. I left with 5 oatmeal/raisin cookies (pre-ordered) and a 1.5- liter bottle of Coca-Cola. A total of P205. I gave the cookies to the relatives when I got home. Well, all except for a half of a cookie that I gave to the lady running the sari-sari store next door.

When I left Mango Store, they were expecting a big load of items to be shelved. Once the store has been up and running for a couple of months, they will start getting some hard-to-get western products there. I don't know all the items they will be getting, but I do know there will be dill pickles and jalapenos. If you're in the area, come on over and support them so they will be able to stay up and running. Baked goods are available also. If you want it fresh, just let them know and strike a deal with them on the price. I've already let them know about my wife's desire for raisin bread. You can buy it downtown, but she'd rather have newly baked if possible.

Around 1:00 pm today I will be going to a birthday party at Samelco Beach. It is the birthday celebration of Steve Hernandez, Steven Hernandez (his son) and the US Marine Corps. He also has this new tequila he wants me to try, but I've already sworn off the hard liquor. He says, "Only 1 shot for you", but I think it will be zero shots for me. He normally has some pretty good company at his parties (lots of women) so I'm looking forward to going. A friend of mine named Tom (not Walking Tom) will be coming by to pick me up to take me there. I'm just going to meet him at Mango around 1 pm. It only takes about 5 minutes or so via a car (maybe 10-15 via a trike). I'll let you know in the next post how things go at the party.

I did not go walking this morning. My walking partner did not show up. He was preparing things to open up the Mango store. He and his wife are the ones that will be running it for Christian, for now. After it is able to stand on its own, they will take over all operations and just pay rent to Christian. We will resume our walking tomorrow morning. Durning football season I do not walk on Monday mornings, so after tomorrow it will be Tuesday, then Thursday. For now, I want to walk on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

They are supposed to be finishing up the staircase this week. I hope they do because I can't start showing movies until that is finished (for safety purposes).

We got enough people for our Thanksgiving lunch on the 23rd. We have 19 confirmed, but extras always show up. I'm not sure why they do not all respond to my requests for advanced notification, but there is always someone, for one reason or another. I also found out what the menu will be. We will be having turkey, potato salad, Baguio beans, roasted potatoes, carrots, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes & gravy. Lots of potatoes, but that's good for me. There will be a dessert also, but I've been told that it is a surprise dessert. For y'all reading this post, I can 'almost' assure you that the dessert will be pecan pie.

Part of the Expat Band was rehearsing at Mango the other day. The lead singer was not there, but the music was pretty good. It was a lot of practice, and they never did do a whole song at once but that's fine. Their new start date is 16 Dec. I'm looking forward to some Classic Rock music and, hopefully, some Classic Country too. I've already got them practicing "Hog Wild" by Hank Williams Jr. They played a little of it at Mango the other day, but, as I said, the lead singer was not there. If I was even a half-way decent singer, I'd sing it for them when it's time. However, I cannot even carry a tune in a bucket.

I suppose this post is long enough. Now I need to come up with a name for it, probably just 11 November 2023, and find a picture to post with it. I think I have a picture of one or 2 of the Expat Band members practicing at Mango.