27th December, 2023: The ground is still shaking

Not suffering from mal de mer, but feeling very dizzy.

It's like living on a boat. The ground moves every day. This is not a good way to live, and it is certainly not good for my health. When will the 'aftershocks' stop? Who knows?

Not to dwell upon this, and moving on ...

... it is almost time to turn the annual hour glass and start a new year. I'd like to say with some degree of optimism, but that is not easy when the world around us has gone mad.

I also can't say a great deal has been achieved by yours truly in 2023. To be honest, and because of my living conditions, and the lifestyle that results from it, I have not been inspired enough to do more. Yes, it would be be better if I lived in a more suitable environment, and in a more developed country, but that is still on the 'back-burner'. Having said this, something is simmering away, and yes, I do have a cunning plan! Hopefully it will work out more successfully than one of *Baldrick's less-than-brilliant ideas, but it remains to be seen how far down the road I get with it. With luck, I and my other half should be on our way back to Europe in 2024. Some of her relatives are also waiting for their new passports, so they too can join us on our new adventure (OMG! 'Adventure'? Not sure how long I can maintain this feeling of new-found optimism). But money is always the stumbling block, and accordingly, is does dampen my spirit somewhat.

So will we make a successful transition to a new life? Watch this space.

*Baldrick, of 'Blackadder' fame.

18th November, 2023: All shook up - quite literally

'Moving home' in a different way

We had a very strong earthquake this week. I thought the house may collapse as the movement under our foundations was so severe. But not even a crack in any of the walls!

It really a very unpleasant experience, and alarming too. Never have I felt anything so powerful since I took up residency here in the Philippines. There is also, so my sister-in-law tells me, a warning of two more strong earthquakes to come. But the authorities that put out this warning are not quite sure when they will happen. So, with a fair degree of trepidation, I await the next unsettling event. I can add though that there is some slight movement still occurring (aftershocks?). How long they will last remains to be seen, but I am not expecting any immediate relief from the possibility of another powerful earthquake. Will it happen, or not? It's the uncertainty and no warning that causes concern. The one we had this week came without any indication of it's severity. It just hit suddenly. It also came later in the afternoon, and with the electric power cut until sometime into the evening, the whole area was plunged into darkness. Coping with such an experience is worsened when there is also no light. Double jeopardy, one might say.

OK, let's see what nature throws at us next. But with a roof still over our heads, the family is safe for now. But for how much longer before something of greater intensity occurs? Hopefully, we shall not be here to experience it.

10th September, 2023: Hit the road, Jack?

A big move on the cards?

It's like I have been trapped in Limbo for so long, and yet paradoxically, time has flown by. Now is the time to change environment and look to move to another city where life may just be a little better for me and my other half. But there is a caveat to this plan, I should add. Details will follow.

To be honest, While my current location is not the worst one could live in, and there are things I shall be sad to leave behind (like our papaya trees which produce very sweet, tasty and incredibly juicy fruit), life has to move on. But this next move could prove to be something of a hiatus as yet another relocation is tentatively planned for a later date.

The bottom line here is that some of our relatives, and yours truly (and yes, the wife as well), want to live in Europe. One country in particular is of interest, but I shall say no more at this time as it is not wise to tempt providence. Yes, a lot could happen in the next 12 months and only God knows what our destiny will be. I should add at this point that the reason for the family moving 'wholesale', is that a better future beckons back in the EU. Considering the shenanigans of the deplorable leading EU politicians, who are no better that supporters of war and suffering, it may seem a strange thing to say - especially as they seem determined to drag all of us into a third world war. But when the war does come, nobody on this planet can escape the consequences of this event.

I wish I had a rosier view of the future, but I tend to look at life realistically. It's no big secret that 'Uncle Sam' (America) has been desiring to get it's grubby and corrupt hands on the nation of Russia for a very long time now (over 100 years). It tried the 'surrogate formula' by supporting the Nazis in World War II, now it is trying again with Ukraine - in the hope that this time they will succeed in bringing Russia into conflict with NATO. Of course, all Hell will break loose when this does happen, and again (as with the previous conflict) Europe will be thrown into turmoil. Could there be sanctuary elsewhere? We now have to deal with the use of nuclear weapons and much more advanced technology. Then there is the fact that China will not just sit by and do nothing. The Chinese know that lays ahead and they will not wait for the very worst to happen before they act. They will want to expand their existing boundaries and reclaim what they say should belong to them, as well as looking to acquire other territory to cement their power base in South-East Asia.

As well as Europe, and the furthest reaches of the Asian continent, Africa is slowly going to become a major war zone as well as the superpowers battle for control there.

Will anywhere be safe? Not really. Just pick your spot and trouble will find you. There will be no hiding places where you will be able to continue to lead what you have come to experience as a 'normal life'. In other words, visualise one of those old American 'Wild West' movies, where someone starts a fight in a saloon bar. Next thing you know, everyone is throwing punches. There will be no corners to hide in. It's all going to get very messy, is it not?

So are you ready to continue the war that has never ended? The war against humanity, against peace and against decency and civilisation, and just because of the evil ambitions of those who cannot sate their lust for power and control? Sooner or later, you will not have a choice. Your respective rulers will expect at least some sacrifice from you, and they will use any and all devices to make you obey their commands.

8th June, 2023: Short days, long pauses.

Reality can be a dreadful place to be when one is properly educated on the evil deeds being perpetrated all around the world.

Days are short for me where I live. Unable to sleep at night due to disturbances, my waking hours are confined to what remains of whatever daylight I get to experience.

I'd like to say I could just walk away from my predicament, but it's not good to leave behind responsibilities and obligations. So one has to endure, to fight for some form of relief, some solution to events largely beyond what one can control.

So where do you go when you do get the chance to tie up loose ends, to pack up and move on? Because of the situation in Ukraine, and because of the rabid and bloodthirsty desire of our Western politicians to drive us to an inevitable third world war, there will be no safe places to relocate to.

There is an old saying that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. When one still has some remaining degree of optimism, that will always be an attractive proposal. Except of course, the term is used more realistically to describe a situation that may be no better, or even worse, than the one you currently find yourself in. My predicament means that there is no hope at all of finding 'greener grass'. All I can hope for, all considered and after all I have learned, is that my next destination will at least be a little less demanding than my present and very testing location.

But here's the rub ...

But doesn't that at least partly depend upon multiple warlike entities continuing their support for a deranged, schizophrenic and psychotic pervert in Kyiv? And all of this compounded by Putin's ineptitude, and previously failing to stop all the tragic drama that is occurring now. Will both of the primary 'coddled combatants' be troubled by their dreams after their inevitable and respective deaths? There will be no soothing and reassuring voices in purgatory, or in Hell - at least as far as Zelenskyy is concerned.

And what of my time on this troubled planet? How will it end? I cannot answer that question, but trouble is a beast that follows people like myself wherever we go. It's just one of those issues of trying to remain ignorant of the worsening political environment, or face up to reality. It has to be the latter because one cannot unlearn the truth one has come to experience. Ergo, damned if I do, damned if I don't.

Consequently, I must apprehensively anticipate the next set of challenges that await me. Having said this, and as I previously alluded to, I also still have responsibilities I must continue to honour. This comes in the form of a wife, and some existing relatives. My greatest concern though is for my great niece as she will inherit a world that is moving rapidly towards it's ultimate destination, and that is Hell. My heart bleeds for her - albeit the resilience she has displayed in her early years will have to be sufficient to carry her through the ordeals that await an ill-educated and gullible species that she will have to share the future with. But for now, her parents and other family members try to keep her protected from some of the harsher realities of life. This can be seen in her exuberant, cheerful and sunny disposition. Bless her very precious soul.

24th March, 2023: Three months since my last post?

Time flies, as they say.

I cannot say a great deal happens in my life here in South-East Asia. One day is very similar to the next, and there are lots of little matters which occupy my largely unproductive existence. I'd like to say that I get out a lot more than I do, but my living circumstances do not inspire anything but general lethargy.

My main issue is that where I live, facilities are quite inadequate. I live in an area not far from the neighbouring city, but it is a 'city' only in name as their is a serious lack of provision there. Enough shopping malls, enough outlets, but nothing that is of much use to me. The supermarkets are quite dreadful. Big enough to provide the variety of food I'd like to eat, but it is non-existent. These supermarkets are full of American-style heavily processed crap which in all honesty, I would not feed to a dog.

So is life going to dramatically improve any time soon? Not exactly, but another move is on the cards. Perhaps it is fate, but a certain event is going to provide an opportunity, not just for myself, and not just my wife too, but for the whole family 'clan'. We are all being given the chance to change our lives and move away from the lacklustre life most of us experience in our current location. The bonus will be that new passports will be easy to acquire, and rapidly so.

So, while not wishing to tempt providence, we shall all be making a move to Europe. There will be pros and cons, but the former will certainly more than compensate for the latter. It will also be a chance to improve our lives regardless of what fate has in store for us. To be honest, almost anything is better then staying where we are right now.

When do we move, or should I say escape? Sometime later this year. All of our relatives will have their own time schedule, and some will be more eager than others to break the bonds that currently keep them trapped in their own country.

Time to go. It's almost siesta time again, and it's happening far more often than I would prefer. But that is life (or lack of it) when you are idling along in the 'slow lane'.