Monday, June 01, 2026

Family news

It is still hot season but the monsoon rains have started so the extreme heat should go down a bit: From 100F to 90. 

 The city water is still off, and last night after a big thunderstorm, water leaked into a electric wire to our water pump, so no bath again today, not even with a bucket (thank God for hanidwipes).

the problem? The same wire kept the pump to aerate our fish pond, so this morning all the fish were at the surface trying to breathe. In the hot weather, we often lose fish from stress, so we were facing a fish die off.

We got our handiman to come and connect the wire to the fishpond pump, so now we are hoping that the fish recover.

The female dog was in heat, so the male dogs were fighting all night, so I have not had a good night's sleep for a few days. Sigh. She is now out of heat, and the neighbor's dog, who she usually mates with when we take her for a walk, came over to look for her when we opened the garage door. Luckily our male dogs were in the garden or it could have been a major fight.

We try to let her mate outside since previous puppies from her brother were beautiful but two had hip dysplasia.

The Baptist church that meets in our meeting room had an anniversary party yesterday: Yum. Filipino food. Actually we eat Filipino food all the time, but our cook is getting old so the recipes are limited, and not always well cooked. Sigh. 

Lots of people sick (blood pressure and diabetes) and a few have died. 

Our next door neighbor's daughter in law was buried after five days wake. The wake included music until midnight. A sad case: In her mid 40s and diabetic and died of sepsis. She was a tomboy, and lived in Manila, but no kids or family there so was buried here.


Saturday, May 30, 2026

Brush up your Shakespeare

in the USA, a lot of people are upsest at Trumpiebooy's insults. So I have a suggestion for him:

 


Wednesday, May 27, 2026

the culture wars

 

Dante lecture

the online lectures about Dante are usually boring but this one explains stuff much better and hey it's narrator is so quiet you can just put it on to put you to sleep.


excuse the typing errors. I blog at night and touch type.

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

the Pope tells us to give up AI

 

,,,

...

posted to listen to later on my tablet.

one suspects this will be pushed by the SJW in the Catholic church to stop the wet from dveloping AI Guess who wins? China, who just happened to bribe millions of dollars to the Vatican so they could take ovef the Catholc church in China.

But a lot more in this discussion

Then we have this:

Monday, May 25, 2026

two million people will be making the Hajj

A lot of trolls on youtube and other sites are ridiculing Trumpieboy for not attacking Iran and trying to make peace. 

and not one of them mentioned one reason local Muslim countries wanted no attacks right now:


from Turkiye today

According to the two senior Gulf officials cited by Middle East Eye, Trump was told that attacking Iran during Hajj would leave hundreds of thousands of pilgrims stranded. The sources also said Trump was warned that striking during the holy period leading up to Eid al-Adha would further damage Washington's standing in the Muslim world. The U.S. had previously attacked Iran during Ramadan, but an attack during Hajj was described as carrying far greater logistical consequences for Saudi Arabia, which hosts around a million foreign pilgrims each year, as well as Gulf air travel hubs in Qatar and the UAE, and countries in South and East Asia from which many pilgrims depart.

Yup. We had a British lady staying here for a week when the attacks started because her flight via Qatar was cancelled. Now imagine what that would do if the Mullahs pulled a similar stunt now


.   


May 23, 2026 Muslim pilgrims perform the tawaf ritual by circling seven times around the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. More than a million Muslims are gathering for the hajj pilgrimage, which is taking place in the shadow of the Middle East war, as animosity smoulders across the region despite a fragile ceasefire.
alas the Iranian Mullahs are busy posting on X that Muslims should   recognize your urgent duty and direct all your motivation toward the real enemy of the Islamic Ummah — the Arrogant Powers.
'
Sigh. So why should people worry?

well, some people remember the 1987 attack on Mecca and the Mullahs have politicized the pilgrimage for years by having some of their "pilgrim" do demonstrations.


=

Hajj 2026 faces unprecedented threats as Iranian missiles target Saudi Arabia. 1.8 million pilgrims, 130+ cancelled flights, and $9 billion in new air defenses..... 
hygiene and vaccinations are quite sophisticated as their site emphasizes who needs which vaccines etc. 

there is a headsup about MERS and contact with camels for foreigners to follow.

and they stress usual precautions to prevent heat stroke, dehydration etc.


so pray for the safety of the Pilgrims that they find peace in their pilgrimage.

Friday, May 22, 2026

Family news: Monsoon is here

 It is the end of hot season, so every day it goes up to the upper 90s F.

The good news? Monsoon season is starting: Late afternoon thunderstorms

the bad news? High humidity and heat mean my asthma is worse.

The town is busy fixing things, so still no city water and our pump is working but noisy. So I can shower at least and the maid can wash the clothes.

Since our previous live in helpers left, we have new people stsaying here but I don't know much about them: a man wife and I think their child. A
We also have two live in maids, one with a young boy, and our old secretary who is back fro working in Japan and is married and has a child. She lives at home but brings her child here while working, and there is always someone to watch the child.

I usually keep the dogs in my room but they still bark at the new help, which is frightening but not dangerous, since they don't usually bite, unlike our previous vicious dog who bit anyone who came near him and we had to keep chained up during the day.

A neighbor down the street died: A middle age man, no news of what he died from, but the cook will visit and take a gift to the family to help with the expenses and come back with the news.

Usually people here are laid out in their homes, and there is often a tent like covering outside the home where the men can sit and play cards while watching most of the day and night, while inside the coffin is laid ou and there are seats for the visitors, who are given soft drinks and small snacks.

A lot of people have relatives overseas, so it could be a week until the burial.  

In the meanwhile, I will stay indoors most of the time.

But the electricity is off, probably because they are fixing the lines. Luckily the generator is working so we have internet and lights, although the airconditioner is weaker than normal so it's not very cool in the room.

Ah the wonderfulness of living in a tropical paradise.