Sea Forest Beetle

We were out for a drive this afternoon, and as we neared the Sea Forest Resort I remembered that I had wanted to post a photo of the resort on Google Maps. As I pulled over at the resort entrance, I immediately saw this red VW Beetle which I knew I had never photographed before.

A few feet from the Beetle, there was parked a VW van/truck. I'm reasonably sure that the non-Beetle is the same one I posted in December.

1 Million Views and Rising

It's been been four months since I last posted an update on the status of the photos I've uploaded to Google Maps. At that time, my photos had received just over 300,000 views. Now, those photos have been viewed in excess of 1,000,000 times.

As noted in the November post, my photo of Manhattan Suites Inn on South Road Calindagan, in Dumaguete  is my most widely viewed photograph.

Today, with more than 30,000 views, that hotel is still in first place, although the 2nd place spot has been surprisingly overtaken by my my photo of the St. Joseph parish church on Pope John Paul II Ave. in Cebu City. That particular photo had been taken from our room at Express Inn during one of our trips to the Philippine immigration office in Cebu. Prior to this, the top spots had been various hotels in Dumaguete.

The Reading List

Last week, I posted how I was having difficulty getting through book #5 in the list of the top ten best sellers of 1917 (Wildfire by Zane Grey) and would begin reading #6 on the list (Christine by Elizabeth von Arnim) to ease the burden of boredom of book #5.

As I mentioned in an earlier post today, the week was a bit Hellish and as a result, I didn't pick up the Kindle as often as I would have normally. I'm still reading books 5 and 6, but I've also left the list to read a third e-book, The Great Boer War by Arthur Conan Doyle.

I'm 83% into Wildfire and it has become more interesting; 32% into Christine and only 3% into The Great Boer War. At some point after I've finished numbers 5 and 6. I'll start on book 7 on the list, In the Wilderness by Robert S. Hichens. That book has been downloaded and is in the queue.

My Week in Review

At some point in 2016, I made an unspoken resolution that I would publish at least 366 blog post that year. That would, of course average one post a day and top my previous record from 2008 of 354 for the year. There were times during the year when I fell behind, but I would catch up by writing multiple posts on other days.

Today, March 4 is the 63rd day of 2017, and to maintain the 365 for the year I should have at least 62 posts by now. The count shows 57. I'm 5 posts behind where I'd like to be, but truth be told, even with the 5 posts deficit I'm in better shape for making the goal than I was this time last year.

Reviewing the blog yesterday, I noticed that I had gone a week without posting anything. Part of the reason for the failure to post was because my wife and I needed to travel to Cebu to pick up my I-card from the Philippine immigration office there. Traveling to Cebu from Negros island really takes a toll on me. Although it's only about 165 kilometers (about 102 miles) from Sibulan to Cebu city, it takes 41/2 to 5 hours to get there by bus. It's possible that, if I choose to have my car ferried over I could drive the distance in less time, but I doubt the time saved would be significant and I'd have to drive in Cebu city traffic - something I'd absolutely hate.

We left Sibulan by Ceres bus Tuesday at around 3:30 AM, ferried across to Cebu island, and continued on the bus into the city. We returned to Sibulan at around 5:30 PM. The trip had taken 14 hours with only about 15 minutes of that 14 hours spent at the immigration office. I was in and out with my I-card in no time at all.

Being a resident of Philippines, I have to do an annual report to immigration within the first 60 days of the calendar year. I became a probationary resident in 2015 (permanent now) and I thought I'd need to do the annual report in 2016. Failing to do the report by the deadline will result in a 1200 peso fine. Because my I-card had not been issued by the March 2nd deadline, I was told last year that a 2016 annual report was not required. However, when I went to the local immigration office in Dumaguete Wednesday to file the 2017 report, there was some question as to whether I would be penalized for not doing a report in 2016.

I had to meet with the head official of the Dumaguete immigration office to determine if I'd have to pay for 2016. My understanding was, that since my probationary I-card had not been issued until April of 2016 - well past the March 2nd deadline - I had not been required to file a 2016 annual report. The officer was insistent that, because my probationary visa had been granted in 2015, I had been required to file in 2016 (even without an I-card) and I'd have to pay for the 2016 report, plus late fee, as well as my 2017 report. While I was waiting to make the payment, the officer called a subordinate into his office and told her to call Manila to double-check. The phone call determined that I had been right and the head officer wrong. I was not required to file the 2016 report, so I only need to pay the 310 peso fee for the 2017 annual report.

I paid the 310 php, thanked the officer for following this through, and happily left the office.

First Friday of Lent

It's Lent......it's Friday..... no meat.

My son is allergic to fish, so that can only mean - pancakes for supper.