Video: Traffic in Dumaguete

Driving in the city of Dumaguete is a unique experience, very different from driving in an American city of a comparable size.

This is another spur of the moment video taken while waiting on my wife. While only 3 minutes in length, the video provides a good example of what we have to go through whenever we travel into the city.

July 11th Piggery Update

When I last wrote about our piggery project, I had expected the delay in completing the job to be about three weeks. As it turns out, the delay was more like six weeks.

The two men working on building the piggery began again this morning. As one can see by the photos, they should be able to finish the piggery in a few days. The blocks should be set tomorrow, with only the wooden top and doors remaining. The doors will require a bit of welding. I'll have photos of that when the time comes.

According to my wife's Papa, we should be able to put the piglets into the piggery Friday. We'll be buying two piglet's from my wife's uncle tomorrow and they'll be put in a temporary pen in the mean time.

There was some sort of delay on starting work this morning, so in order to have him earn his day's pay, my wife's Papa had his helper weed a portion of the property. A photo showing the result of that is also included.

The Right of Way.

The three photos posted here show the right of way onto the property, taken from opposite angles, three months apart.

The top photo shows the entire right of way as seen the first week of April. We had widened the original pre-2016 right of way to accommodate vehicles larger than a motorcycle. Eventually, the entire right of way will have to be paved if we want to be able to drive our car onto our property.

Not long after the return of the rainy season, we were approached by folks who used the right of way to access their property. The rains had washed out portions of the right of way entrance, making it difficult for anyone on motorcycle to make it through. Men in the neighborhood were asking permission to pave a small section. The group would provide the labor and cement if we would provide the sand.

We agreed, and my wife's Papa was to watch them as they worked. I had agreed to their proposal because any work they would do would mean less for us to do in the future. I knew before they began that  the paved area would not be as large as I would have liked.

The 2nd and 3rd photos show the right of way after the work was finished. Before the work was begun, I told my wife that we could donate even more cement to the project while they were willing to pave a section, but somehow my plan was not conveyed to the men working.

All in all, I've no complaints; every little bit helps. When the day comes when we will have to pave the entire right of way, we'll hire the men in the neighborhood who worked on the original paving. Since they'll be traveling on it they have an interest in seeing it done right in addition to making a few extra Pesos in the process.

Election Predictions Redux

It's only July and already I see My 2016 Election Predictions unraveling.

In that post from April, I made a number of predictions concerning the November POTUS election. One being, Hillary Clinton would be elected POTUS due to the fact that she is hated slightly less than Donald Trump. I still believe that prediction will hold, but it is the companion prediction which looks as if it won't come true.

At the time of that post, I believed that not only will Hillary become the first female POTUS, but she will be the first POTUS to have matching impeachments with her former POTUS husband. I was certain that because Hillary would be elected on an anti-Trump referendum, there would be little sympathy for her when she finally faces an indictment and impeachment.

After reading that FBI Director James Comey would not recommend charges against Hillary Clinton over her use of private email servers while secretary of state, I realized that she is unlikely to be impeached if elected.

Be that as it may, I still maintain that choosing between Trump and Clinton is like choosing between mustard or mayo on your shit sandwich. Take your pick.

Bleached Brain Coral

While the work on the bridge between Brgy. Cangmating and Brgy. Poblacion was being completed, there was a large pile of debris located at the side of the road nearby. This debris consisted of mostly rocks, stones, dirt and broken pieces of concrete which would eventually be used for fill in the area between the road and the bridge.

One day, on my walk to the market, I came upon a large piece of bleached brain coral among the debri. I took the coral home and cleaned off as much of the dirt as possible.

This souvenir (or paper weight) rests now on my computer desk. I took this photo near my keyboard to give an idea of the size.The dimensions of the coral are 7 inches long, 4 inches wide and 3.5 inches deep.