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Questions and Rants
If you have a question about a topic that is not related to anything you can find on this website, please post it here.
If you feel the need to rant about something, please have at it here too.
Most of the time, I don’t care what people talk about in a post, I’m just happy they are commenting but sometimes when someone makes a post that would be better off some place else, I’ll just move it here. Don’t take that as a repermand on my part. If I have a problem with someone, I’ll let you know in email.
I am not a fan of public moderation.
You can also use the contact form below but in most cases you should post your comment on the site, it really helps my site and I can’t answer all the emails I get. 
I did away with the contact form because it slows down the site. Here is my email address: [email protected] but if the question can be asked in a comment, I won’t answer unless you have bought my eBook.
The contact form is offline for now. It was slowing the site down. You can email me at [email protected] but read the above paragraph.
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Can u pls helpe me to faind a hompage for me wer i can search fore A micro hi-fi i can bay in cebu..Thankyou
I doubt I can find that but the best place to look would be on Colon Street in Cebu City. Lot of electronic shops in that area. Be careful, its known for its high number of pick pockets and purse snatchers.
I have been in Mactan now for almost a year…I did some trips To Bantayan Island on the bus going through Bogo..I realize Bogo is small but it seems like a nice place being clean,less pollution,cheaper and real close to Bantayan Island..Does anyone know of any furnished apartments,studios or small houses available for rent?Having internet and cable TV is essential..I would also be interested in hearing about someones living experiences there.I guess having all this info before I go for a visit would make things easier and more productive…I have a motorcycle and plan on keeping my place here in Mactan as a second place.
Hey Bill, well dude, this site is covered up in my experiences in Bogo City as I live here.
There are some apartments here that I think will provide all you are looking for. I’ve been meaning to go buy there. Awww I can’t remember the name of it.
This is what I recommend you do, come on up. Get a room G and O Pension or Nagano. G and O will save you a couple of hundred peso a night. Nagano looks nice from the outside. I’ve not even seen the G and O but have a friend that stays there because of the price I think. P600 I think he said.
Or even better, come stay a few weeks to get to know the place and stay at Virgin Beach Resort Cebu, if you Google that you’ll find their web site. Its a pretty good ways out of the city though and a bit of a longer trip than it needs to be because the roads are bad up that way.
Please let me know when you’re coming, perhaps we can meet for some BBQ or Disco or both. If you can’t get numbers for those two places, let me know and I’ll get them for you.
Thanks Rusty for the info…Its always great meeting a fellow expat..Hope you dont mind meeting a yankee..lol…Hopefully next week my buddy and I will be up there on bikes..I guess contact you here or where do I give you my cell#???
Yea use the form above is the easiest way to do it. here I’ll give you mine here 0921-300-2265 I’m not your typical expat. I’m more likely to hang out with Filipino than Westerners. That does not mean I don’t like Yankee’s LOL Look forward to meeting you.
Well Rusty you have blocked me from your other sites now. I guess it is easier to close your mind than to discuss things.
I have to say in closing that I have always enjoyed laughing with you and at you. I am sorry that you have now developed such thin skin and have chosen to exclude me from the discussions on your other sites. Wow you will be losing half your readers on hobbyist economist alone! Have a nice life.
Even if Rusty wanted to ban you from his website, which he did not, it is HIS website, no one else’s. He can do, or not do, whatever he pleases. Go get your own website and then YOU can do what YOU want to.
oh, so sorry to hear about this Tom, I’ll definitely miss your ideas in this site. Any chance Rusty will relent?
Hi Christine!
I love your headpiece. Very exotic and gwapa! I am sorry that Rusty has chosen to block me. I really liked that he usually didn’t take it personally when I disagreed with his politics. Most quarrels are over religion or politics so it was bound to happen sooner or later. Maybe he feels like he is being ganged up on since no one ever sides with him. If you can help him to find someone that agrees with him that would be great! It would build his self esteem. Thanks for your concern Christine and please take care of yourself my upset friend Rusty.
Tom R. as usually you don’t know what your talking about. You’ve been blocked by nothing.
I now know why you THINK I blocked you. I did no such thing. However you’re posting here is disturbing. I wont comment on it further though as this is not the place for it.
Ha Ha I find this diatribe , intrusive. So if you have nothing better to do but argue about nothing then go away. You see the history of this is simple to follow – Topic raised – Religion brought in – some one comments on religion – personal offense taken out of context – religion forgotten and personal issues remain – topic forgotten – Diatribe starts.
So we should move this topic to a new header??
ok Ciao
I am still laughing (life is too short).
Apparently he doesn’t have anything to do with it? What about we ban religious discussion? I could have contributed to the discussion and then it would have been worse – I’m Jewish!
Thanks for the compliment Tom, it’s the only newish pic I’ve got taken on new year’s day costume party. Hope this will resolve, as I really enjoy the exchange of wit and ideas.
Oh, BTW, anyone noticed we’re actually on “Wife beating expat”? this section should be renamed “Expat beating expat” LOL!
…and if I may add you are like bickering little boys! so can we start again pls? Tom included?pls?…
Who me? What did I do? Everybody take a cold shower and come back.
So to get us back on topic I’ll say Males who beat women. (Notice I didn’t say men) Should be locked up for a long time.
Any woman involved with someone like this should leave and don’t look back. It will only get worse. These guys are not right in the head.
You telling me to leave this forum? Now what did I do??
No I said take a cold shower THEN COME BACK. It just sounded like at least a few of us needed to cool down.
Or are you refering to my second statement. That didn’t refer to this site but to my opinion that any woman involved with someone abusive should get out and not go back.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
I know you were Tom. Yes, everyone is starting to get fiery, except for a few (present company included), that’s why I thought I’d throw something light-hearted.- and YOU took me seriously?
I hope everyone’s heeding your advice. Rusty will have a cold shower, he’s got no choice. In Bogo, it’s cold shower or cold shower.
I’m really trying to not comment on this any more at all. Christine, I did nothing to Tom R. He thought I blocked him on another site. It had nothing to do with religion at all, not in anyway.
When I explained to Tom R what happened he again was rude becaue I had put him into moderation because of the attack he launched on me here.
Christine I sent you an email on this yesterday.
Its not worth talking about its a little troublesome that just because Tom R said I did something, doesn’t mean I did it. I didn’t block him in anyway. I did moderator him AFTER he attacked.
So lets not talk about it any more please!
at last finished. just like going to the dentist .I feel better now. haha
Probably better if this whole thing had been addressed through e-mail.
There may be a problem with the service provideror the server itself I was unable to get into my site and one of yours the other day for a while. Then it just started working again.
Smile Rusty
Hi Rus, is there something wrong with your website? I wrote another article on men’s health. It sat there for about 3 days, I decided to change the title, then it just vanished! no trace at all. Is there a bogeyman in your site? That was a good informative article too, but I did not save it. I don’t know if I can re-write it.
Hi Christine,
I just got back from Bantayan Island. So I’ve not been onlne. I usually have severe computer withdrawel if not on a PC for four hours but not when I’m out there. Honestly, I had so much to do, so much fun and work to do whle out there that I didn’t have time to get on a PC. I will get over there soon.
I had a great time but now I’m having some problems, health wise and getting some what worried. t has to do wth one of my medications and my inablity to get my hands on it. Effexor. I will right more about it on RustyFerguson.com though.
Unless you pressed the wrong button and deleted your artcle, it will still be there.
Wow, I’m not dong well rght now though!
Sorry you’re not feeling well again. Hope that will clear up soon. That is bad news about your medication problems. Is it available somewhere else like Australia or Singapore?
Hope you are back on your feet again soon.
Tom I found it on a website that a friend of mine uses but they don’t want to send to Philippines. Ran into some temporarily funding problems too. If I found it right now, i couldn’t buy it outside of the country because can’t buy just a few pills. So I’m likely to run out. There’s more on this at RF.COM though. Thanks for the well wishes, I can’t complain too much with the kind of life I’m living but this medication is really very hard to stop taking. I’ve known addicts that said it was harder than their illegal drugs! I was going through hell this morning and I only cut my dose in half starting last week. I took a full dose and I’m okay for now.. I will get through it but it may be one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to endure.
Have you tried asking for Venlafaxine’s other name, Efexor or Efexor XR? (XR is the extended release form). You might be able to get them by mail order too. If nothing else, there are heaps of other anti-depressants in the market. Honestly, we hardly use Efexor in the wards anymore. The Psychiatrists are all going for the SSRIs (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors) such as Citaloprams, Lexapros, Luvox, etc. They might not be available in PI. Hope you get this sorted.
Hey Chrstine, I’m going to move ths to RF.com That is my reply as it is a more personal website. I’m strugglng right now. This is not going to be pleasent.
Tom, your right ths should have been done in email. Tom R denied that he attempted to get Christine to leave this site because of what he THOUGHT I did to him. I did NOTHING to him but after the attack, I put him into moderation and instead of saying he was wrong when he assumed I was “out to get him” he blasted me again. After that I moved any future emails to spam. I regret that things turned out this way. He s welcome to participate here but he will remain on moderation until I feel like I can trust him.
I just can’t get over that he thought I would block him on one website and not everything else and when I ban someone, they get a message that saying “you are banned.” But I have never banned a human. Hope I never will have too.
I was looking forward to spending time with Tom R in person. I did nothing here. If I had, I would admit it. The HOB site placed him in the spam bin when he posted a message with little more than a URL in it. Then he posted other messages that also went into spam because of the first one.
I did NOTHING to Tom R until after his inappropriate messages here and instead of recognizing what he did wrong, he again went off on me. Like s too short for me to deal with people that wont admit they are wrong and I’m not going to risk having someone launch an attack on me on these sites.
I’ve had that happen before. On the web, I have learned that if people say something about you, the people that hear it tend to believe it. Its the web, there is always going to be drama. Its just the nature of the web.
PS there’s nothing more to be said on this topic. I am dropping it and I hope others will.
Awww they are nesting it is fixed.
)
some things not working after the theme change. Working on it now
you put this: then this right next to it) the two together make
Tried it, it’s sideways and it’s not yellow!
you have to submit it to see the smiley.
submit the what and to who and how?
Isn’t that what I said.
Yes but she may be even more stubborn than me…. LOL Naw not much chance of that.
I followed your instructions to the letter, it is still coming up sideways and not yellow! I’m using Windows, does that have anything to do with me not getting it correctly? I’ll try again.
see?
LOL That’s funny
look close, mine is a little different. Its tongue his hanging out, yes I’m flirting. LOL
mmm, that Effexor sure works miracles….
ooops!-why did that worked this time? LOL!
thanks guys.
because you followed all the directions, nothing but the directions and only the directions
Stubborn indeed yes I am. I would not have survive Forensic Psychiatry if I wasn’t
hey, how come my smiley doesn’t look like a smiley? It seems to have that stunned mullet look. Rusty’s look more a proper smiley. Does smiley prefer guys too? like the monkey?
Looks the same to me except when Rusty did this.
How do you give the red lip look?
Its actually a tongue…..
: P without the space.
ooops! wrong again! It just looked like a smiley with red lipstick – LOL!
Never follow the directions they are always wrong anyway.
I meant to delete that.
they are nesting.
this is just a test… Jessie did you getthis in email.
Christine, you can post articles here now if you like
OK. Don’t think Jess got that?
nope she didn’t and neither did I. whatever I did to “fix” it so that she and I both would get alerts when a new message was posted broke it good. So I’m making a change. I’m hoping Jessie will visit more often. It would be very helpful to have her input.
You have to remember, she is a Filipina and thinks much like Filipina on such things. quite shy but I’ve been working on that, sometimes she comes along kicking and screaming. LOL
She’s got way too much going for her to keep all her ideas to herself.
Don’t tell anyone but she’s smarter than me.
Yeah, whatever it is you did to fix this made it worse. Posts are definitely not nesting!. Sure you haven’t got a Bogeyman here?
In that case, I would really like to see Jess’ input here. I don’t think I’m thinking/behaving like a Filipina anymore. I think I’m too far gone to having been westernized…..
They are definitely nesting. The are not doing it in a very nice way though. If they were not nesting post would end up at the bottom when you clicked reply. I may have to look for a new theme.
I don’t think I changed anything btw.
hey i need info on how to get visa for my phillipino wife? please help if u can thanks
Darrin, where are you trying to get her to? You need a lawyer that does that kind of work on a regular basis.
Trying to move her their permanently may prove next to impossible. From what I’ve seen its better to use a finance visa.
A tourist visa is harder to get than permanent resident from what I’ve seen others say. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me though.
If a tourist visa, if she own land here, her chances will go way up. They want to have a reason to believe that se will return.
This is all speculation on my part though, from reading about others. Most people asking for a tourist visa were denied unless they had land and family staying behind.
Yeah, where are you trying to get her to? According to some Filipina friends of mine here in Oz, Fiancee is quicker than spouse visa. The trick is to set a marriage date in Oz, then let the embassy know she needed to be here by such date. Apparently, the Embassy does not worry much once you’re married in PI because well, you’ve tied the knot. I don’t know how true this is, but it does seemed those who are on Fiancee visas get here before one year.
Wonder if an impending birth will do the same trick? You might need to get working Darrin
Hey Darren, it’s Filipino wife not phillipino wife. If you want the politically correct term it would be Filipina for women. The country is Philippines. Anyway, the fastest way is fiancee visa which also means you have been there in the Philippines and spent time with her. Tourist visa is a pain unless she has a lot of properties in her name, a good paying job and a lot money in her name in the bank and not recently deposited. You have to send support papers for her after you applied for her. The best way is also to get an international lawyer but you can do the procesing without a lawyer. Just contact the nearest Phillipine consulate. I do not work in the embassy but I teach here in the US -which i hope you are from the US as well. I do not know what country you are from. In your case, you mentioned Phillipino wife,sponsoring a wife I think is longer or takes time. My niece got married to a fellow Filipino but american citizen and it took her 1 year to join her husband. Goodluck!!! terry
Rusty, have you been to Bohol? I am from Bophol and it is a beauty. Bohol Beach club is too expensive for me but the other side has a lot to offer. My hometown is called Talibon and it has a lot of islands you can go hopping and snorkeling. No purse snatchers and beautiful churches…a lot cheaper too. But don’t advertise it too mcuh…I don’t want it spoiled and become an expensive place to stay. regards from syracuse, ny
Bohol not Bophol…LOL
Christine,
I have met so many young Filipina looking for a way off these Islands. Most stay because they cannot leave. They want to go only to the USA though.
If they are willing to go to other countries, Their chances go way up.
My first plan was to move Jessie to the US but after reading about her chances, I knew I was coming here. Worked out way better this way for me.
Most are here becuase they have no choice and if they do get a choice the fear of the unknown keeps them at home. It is a nice home country indeed but the poverty drives most to look for a better life than they believe they can find here.
Sometimes thouogh, what we think is a better life is not so great after all. I can say that, but I don’t go hungry except by choice.
Education will help, it has helped in the US. Lot of societal pressure in t he US now. Trash makes people angry in the US. If you do it, others will rightly call you out on it. But, it was not always like that.
Even Christ said let tomorrow take care of tomorrow, today has enough worries. Everything in balance though.
Terry,
Fiancee visa’s can easily take three years! Nothing will go fast.
I am afraid to go to Bohol, because I think I’m going to fall in love with the place.
It is high up on my list of places to look into. That huge bridge they are talkling of building will end the secret of Bohol.
If I move there, you can be sure I’ll blog about it. LOL I do hope to visit and it sounds like my kind of place. Well it is more than a hope, It is a plan.
I grew up in the woods, I may be half warewolf.
Just ask Jessie. LOL
You’re originally from PI but now are in NY?
I’ve never heard of a Fiancee visa taking 3 years in Oz? A friend told me of one agitated Aussie at the embassy who threatend to divorce his Filipina wife because he has waited nearly 2 years for her to get a visa, he felt as if he hasn’t got a wife anyway.
Maybe US is more strict with Fiancee/Spouse visa? They could be doing it to protect you guys from scammers who might just be marrying for a US visa. I know 25 years ago, a Filipina can marry an old Aussie, get permanent residency in 3 months, then divorce him. Now, a foreign spouse is required to stay with him/her for 2 years and 2 months before she/he can get residency.
yeah, Filipinos really love the USA, don’t they? Now I’m thinking about the 51st state idea again! Seems what’s the point with independence if people are still scrambling to go to mother USA? even Filipinas who get to Oz, still want to eventually move or at least visit USA. It’s as if it’s the Mecca!
The grass always appear greener on the other side. Some Filipinos I’ve met here did not regret leaving PI for a better life. Others felt homesick enough to actually get a divorce and return to PI with kids, others are just waiting for retirement then go back.
One Aunt married a German guy, but she refused to go to Germany. I guess it is the fear of unknown, though she said she would hate to live in Europe because of the cold. He put up with it for awhile, staying in PI for 3 months at a time. But eventually got fed-up with the situation and left.
One thing I noticed at SM is the lack of rubbish bins. In Oz, there’s always bins handy anywhere. My brother said shopping centers minimize the placement of bins especially in unsupervised areas because of the risks terrorists will put bombs in them.
Russ, it will not take 3 years…it is really fast. Yup I am here in snowy Syracuse, NY. My husband- he is nuclear reactor engineer and an american, who sponsored me to come to the US. I tried as a tourist and I was denied…the only land I had were my flower pots, I did have a good job but not a lot of money in the bank. He filed a fiancee visa, that was 15 years ago and now I have a 14 year old daughter who will be the next Mia Hamm… hopefully…LOL
what huge bridge are you talking about? where and when? I hope not. I like the way Bohol is, with beautiful, simple-living people, churches and beaches.
best wishes…
I looked into a Fiancee visa about 15 ears ago for a girl from Canada …. Awww, it does depend on the location. Tn is having huge immigration from Mexico and there was a huge backlog. That is why it was going to take 2 to 3 years.
There is a study under way to build a bridge from, I think Cordova to Bohol. Last I heard was $3 million USD set aside for feasibility study but the mayor of Cordova had already made his mind up.
I didn’t notice a lack of trash bins.
Not saying there isn’t a lack, just not high on my list I guess.
There are certainly a lot of conviences in the US that we don’t have here.
What one see’s on TV makes the US look really rich.
If we were all so rich, we wouldn’t be coming to the Philippines because of finances.
Not feeling well today. Think I’m going to have to take a day off.
Oh, we only noticed because we bought something with with some plastic wrapping, so we were looking to put the wrap in the bin. We were near the optometrist’s shop in SM Cebu. So I just had to put the rubbish in my bag till we can find one. It would seem there’s a rubbish bin every few meters in Oz shopping centres. Well, the ones I frequent anyway.
Told you, it’s quicker with Fiancee visas – thanks for confirming that Terry!
I was at lunch with a Filipina friend today, and she mentioned that Filipina entertainers for Japan had been stopped by the Phil. government. Just wondering if this is correct? Apparently, such “entertainers” end up being prostitutes. If this is true, I say about time too.
This of course doesn’t stop foreigners coming to Phil. for sex. Another friend has a single male boarder. He goes to SE Asia for sex. Last year, it was Thailand. This year, Philippines is on his “menu”. This man must have such a lonely existence.
I’m a little confused here. A fiancee visa to OZ has NO relationship whatsoever to what happens in the USA.
My memory is bad, Maybe I got mixed up on where this conversation was about. I have no idea what it will take in Australia. But I know for a fact it will take two to three years for a Fiancee visa to the USA IF that Fiancee was coming to Tn in the last 90′s and it was because the offices in Tn were overwhelmed with applications. I know because I, not someone else, me myself and I went through it.
Now it was 10 years ago and things might have changed but my last dealings wish INS in the US was it had gotten worse because of budget cutbacks.
However, Mandy could come to the USA on her before 9/11/2001 with nothing but an ID and her birth certificate and there was no time limitation. Once she came down for a visit, we decided to get married while she was there.
Then we applied for her green card. Her daughter ended up marrying an American. When her daughter did the application they denied her but then gave her a second chance to prove the marriage was real which I guess they were able to do on their second visit.
IMS told us it could take three years. Where you submitted your application determined how fast it would get through. I was pretty devastated when I learned this but it turned out okay.
Mandy had to wait about about three months for her permission to work then another year and half before she got her green card.
I filed all the paper work myself. INS forms made IRS forms look like a cake walk!
I have a lot of Filipina friends here who just got to the US – some got married in the Philippines and it took them longer to get to the US and some did fiancee visas. the latter ones got here quicker than the former.
Christine, the entertainers going to Japan was stopped by the Japanese government for some reasons I do not know. The Philippine government will not stop these entertainers from going because it is very good generating income for the gov’t. They make a lot of money from these OFW’s and I bet they would not even care if these women were working as prostitutes as long as the politicans get their money thru taxes and other ways. I was born, grew up, studied, worked in the Philippines til 1993. I knew how politics work since I have seen how people enrich themselves esp in politics. There are a lot of women I know who were in Japan working as entertainers but not prostituting themeselves. Some of them were my students back home and they went to Japan for a year to save money for college. I have a niece who went there to be a singer and now works in dubai after college.
Sad to say but that the state my country is.
Anyway, on the lighter side, I am so happy to find this site and share ideas from different people in different parts of the world. I am always looking forward to reading comments from you guys. Thanks Rusty!!!
Rusty, talking about taxes, I just mailed ours after laboring this for weeks…I have the Turbotax program but I can only do it after work, driving my daughter to and from school, soccer, karate and lacrosse practices. Wheww!!! after the post office clerk took the envelopes from me, I felt like a big thorn was taken out from my foot…ha..ha..ha.. ’til next year of dealing taxes. I am a bit of procastinator as well, isn’t that obvious!
Hope to see you in Cebu but I just got back last February.
I guess I can answer why a lot of Filipinos want to go to the US…poverty in the Philippines. Aside from English is commonly used in the Philippines, it is easier to understand an american than with other nationalities unless you have stayed on that place for a long time. There is also the mentality that US is the land of milk and honey but as of this time of recession, it is not. I had a chance to go to Oz, my sister sponsored for me but I ended up here in the US. I was doing good in the Philippines but there is a longing of every one of us I guess to go to another place/country. I think this is true for Rusty and Christine, that’s why they go to the Philippines or staying in the Philippines, right?
I am planning to retire in the Philippines as well when time comes…which would be a long time. My husband wants to stay in Hawaii to retire but it is too expensive. I can live like a queen in PI with my retirement money. i am teaching here in the US, so I should have enough money for retirement. I want to grow old in my own country and by then my daughter should have her own family. I still prefer Bohol although I am thinking of Bacolod or somewhere in Negros Occidental… i used to work in one of the universities over there.
Have a good day Christine and Rusty…do you understand and speak the dialect yet. I am sure you do…magkita na lang ta puhon…LOL
Hi Terry, good summation of the Filipino’s drive to go abroad. I have a Filipina friend who hailed from Leyte. She went home 2 years ago, after 10 years. She did not regret coming to Oz. She said her former classmates looked 10 years older than her. And we both agreed it’s the harsh life and poverty in PI that made her peers looked old.
I was PI born, mainly Aussie raised. I didn’t go back to PI for 22 years, only last year, then I found out how much I’d missed. I’ve got childhood memories of travelling with Lola to north of Cebu. Lola came from a Town 30 mins. from Bogo. Beautiful place! That’s why I’m not saying the name of the town here because I don’t want more foreigners to discover it. Some have set up homes there already!
Like you, I also want to retire to PI. But I’m buying investment properties in Cebu, so if it works out, I will just work 1/2 the year here stay in PI for 1/2 the year. My daughter is only 15, but when she goes to Uni. she won’t mind if I stay in PI for a few months. I’ve lost my 2 Lolas while I was doing my nursing degree here. When I went back last year, I’ve discovered young cousins I’ve never met.
When we visited another Aunt in Cebu, she later told me she had difficulties understanding our accents because she is used to American accents. I’ve always thought we speak clearly, even the kids only has a mild Aussie accent. Tiya must have been watching too many yankee moveies -
LOL!
I can’t speak Visayan, but me and my daughter are learning. That’s why I hang out with Visayan friends – not to mention they are outrageously funny!
Rusty, you are confused!
Your original inquirer (Darrin who seemed to have vanished into thin air!) was asking about the quickest way his wife/GF can join him. He did not say where he is from.
Terry I understand is from the US, I’m from OZ, so we’re just putting our 2 bob’s worth (apologies to Manong Bob of LIP) re-best way of getting your GF to join you either US or OZ.
Based on Terry’s and my experiences here, Fiancee visa is the best way to go. My friend from Samar introduced me to a newly arrived Filipina yesterday. She’s been in Oz nearly a year. She came on a Fiancee Visa. Waited 6 months for it. Delay was caused by anomalies between her birth certificate, and what her prospective husband submitted to immigration. He used her nickname. So immigration got suspicious and he had to do some explaining and re-lodge forms with correct names. So I think as long as papers are in order and GF is healthy. According to friends here, if prospective husband set a marriage date (reasonable time frame of course) immigration must meet that marriage date. So far no one seemed to have to re-set their marriage dates here.
Interesting what you said about the entertainers in Japan Terry. I thought it was too good to be true, the PI govt suddenly becoming conscientious about what is happening to their Filipinas. Because if they are, many Filipinas still suffer abuses in the middle-east, where is the help? I have read many articles on Filipina domestic helpers being raped, beaten, starved to death, not given their wages. So what is the point of going abroad? I wonder if these abuses are known in PI, especially in the rural and island areas? I don’t think they know, or else Filipinos wouldn’t go there – or would they still?
Okay, I replied to someone in the US.
Darwin is in the US too, I guess I forgot the rest of you don’t know that.
I’ll say it again, my experience is in the US and in certain parts of the Us it can take two to three years for a finance visa. Well, it use too, perhaps the funding issues have been resolved and more people have been hired or more offices opened.
I don’t think most realize how many people from Mexico are coming into the uS and many are in Memphis now. When you go to the INS office in Memphis, the line to talk to someone takes about four hours to get through, it goes out the door and down the sidewalk!
we know how all about the Mexican immigration. It’s sad people die in the desert attempting to cross the border. Wouldn’t it be easier for everybody if Mexico ask the US to make them its 51st state?
We’ve got our own problems with illegals too. Just this morning I heard there’s yet another boat intercepted on the Autralian westcoast with 49 Afghans in it. Beats me why the Afghans and Pakistanis by-passed everyone else then chooses Australia. Maybe it is true we are seen as soft spots. Besides, if you’re an Afghan would you even dare going to the US?
Rusty, Darrin or Darwin – are we talking of the same guy here?
I wasn’t talking about illegals, they don’t tend to show up at immigration, not willingly.
The numbers are greater than you realize. White people will soon be a minority in the US! That’s not a racist hysterical comment without basis.
These are stats I got several years ago. The USA is changing in its make up of people.
I need to write today but I don’t think I’m going to be up to it again. Maybe later. I hohpe so. I’m in a brain fog, no medical term for it but all lupies know it well.
I know you weren’t. I just mentioned it because of our illegal problems here. I do believe you that whites will soon be a minority. I work with a British doctor here. In his opinion, white Britons are easily the minority in London now.
This is so much interesting talking to you guys…I love it. I work with Mexicans and Guatemalans dairy farm workers teaching them English from Spanish. My family went to Orlando florida’s disney world and nobody was speaking English. We went to San Diego zoo and nobody was speaking English. Besides Hispanics, there are a lot of Chinese and Filipinos all over the US. and , we are not counting the African Americans and other Asians.
Christine, it is a known fact that abuses happen esp. in the Middle East and HK for domestic helpers but because of the need of money even teachers leave to alleviate poverty. Nobobdy in the government cares unless someone gets killed and there will be a BIG news and howling by the media and the senators or any politicians who want to be elected the next election for few weeks and then die down on its natural death. It is a cycle. It is like somebody in the Philippines caught with corruption and people forget after another big news come out.
I almost wanted to go to HK to be a domestic helper but listening to my townmates talking about how they clean windows from outside and their boss’ house is in the tenth floor; eating in the bathroom to hide from the boss’ wrath for eating; working until the wee hours only to be lent to the mother in-law to clean her house; taking care of spoiled brats; being raped and beaten; eating food not even worth to be eaten by dogs; and a lot more stories, I decide to stay in the Philippines and be happy and contented to what I have. I told myself not to be a domestic helper for anybody no matter what. I can live with my salary working in the university.
The problem is, not everybody can go to college or even getting a high school diploma in the Philippines. Hearing other family having a better life, parents sell their properties to finance their kids so they can go abroad and hoping to get back the sold properties, no matter what happens to their kids. It is called “kapit sa patalim”. There is a phrase called “pa-swerte swerte lang”.
Talk to you again…I have to run with my daughter for exercise. God bless!!!
Christine, where in OZ are you? I have a sister in Sydney. I also used to work in Cebu city. I love Cebu but I will not be able to drive there or in Manila either. Drivers are too crazy and pedestrians cross without care…LOL
I’m in Brisbane. I don’t particularly like it here, too crowded! I’m just waiting for my daughter to finish year 12, then we’re out of here. I want to move north of Queensland. It’s tropical, green, by the sea and hot! just like PI.
Terry, such stories break my heart. I was talking to my brother last week. He told me that one of his goddaughter has a 45 year old American boyfriend. They met online. What’s wrong with that? Well, she’s only 15! I said to my brother, if that’s not Paedophilia, what is? The girl’s family are not dirt poor, her Dad is in the Airforce. But they can’t send her to college because they can’t afford it. She already has one sister at college. So this girl only finished grade 6. I asked my brother if the parents knew. He said the parents knew. So the American is now supporting this girl, sending her to college, paying for everything. The deal was, when this girl turns 18, they will marry. I said, the girl would only become an adult in the eyes of the law. Personally, I think this is disgusting. Furthermore, what if the girl turns 18 and she change her mind. What then?
I’ve read lots of horrendous stories about girls being abused physically, mentally, sexually, psychologically by their masters. I think if I had got married and lived in PI, I would rather plod along like you did, rather than take my chances anywhere. The fact that there aren’t that many Filipino suicides in the middle east can perhaps be attributed to the Filipino’s strong constitution.
Here in Oz, I’met some pretty Filipinas, even mestizas married to short, fat, balding me twice their age. Love is blind or poverty driven?
Here’s a link about the hardships OFWs and other 3rd world recruits endured in Dubai. This should be posted at every SM and Jollibee restaurants in PI, so that those who are receiving dollars would realize what his/her sons, brothers, husbands and daughters had to go through in order to send those dollars. It might also give insight about life for an OFW for those contemplating working there. If you have problems accessing this, let me know. It is written by a reputable journalist.
http://digg.com/d1oA2o
Terry, I’m much more of a procrastinator than I use to be.
My return was hard to do this year. Not becuase things were complicated so much but I didn’t have all the documents I needed. With an international move during the year, things were just not where they were suppose to be!
Did the best I could.
Do you have a business or investments? Wage earner only returns are not that complicated.
I whould probably go into business doing tax returns for wage earners. I could do that cheap.
Christine, I’m kind of surprised about that regarding London. GB is very restrictive about people entering the country long term.
Terry,
Glad you are enjoying it here. You’re veyr much appreciated. I hope you come often.
At this point in time, the Philippines need OFW’s. There goes my mind again though onto things I can’t talk about. Wages are too low here and that’s the problem leading too all of these abuses. I benefit from the low wages, no about that. The rich Filipino does as well.
We have one maid that use to work next door. She quit because she felt she was treated so badly.. She was working for another Filipino. We hired her. I think she’s happy here.
So often, people put domestic help down to make them feel better about themselves.
PS to all, there is a problem here with nested comments. When I turn them on they show up in the wrong place. I’m going to try to fix that but I may need to change themes and I’m not ready to do that. changing Hey Joe hurt my revenue a lot.
Terry, the us is the land of milk and honey but only if you don’t work for someone else. People that can start a business and then have it fail and can start another one because they have support from family or another source almost always end up doing wel
It’s quite possible the non- whites in London are descended from the earlier immigrants after Britain relinquished its colonies. And new immigrants would always head for big cities so they can find work.
In Oz, if y ou are sponsoring a relative, your relative will get extra points if you are not in a major city. So if I was sponsoring a relative, he/she won’t get extra points because I’m in Brisbane. This is to discourage ethnics from congregating in big cities. But it’s a catch 22, because jobs are limited in small towns, though there are many smaller cities outside Brisbane.
Christine, how could the family not afford their daughter to go to college when Dad is in the airforce. Besides, there are a lot of decent ways to finish college. I was a working student in the university because there were 3 (out of 9)of us siblings in college and my parents were poor. We worked hard and we all finish college…so there goes the saying “poverty is not a hindrance to eduation”. Probably this 15 year old girl wants to go school in higher standards…high end living and does not want her hands dirty washing her clothes or cooking her own food. The american guy is the ticket to continue her lifestyle. What a pity!!!
I am sure she will change her mind or she already has a Filipino boyfriend but continues to be a dependent to this poor stupid american guy. When she turns 20 the guy is 50. there’s the 30 years gap. I am glad that there is only 6 years difference with my husband and me, and we are both well educated. He has his masters in nuclear engineering and I have my masters degrees…one from Cebu and one from here in the US. My husband gained weight, accdg to him, because of my filipino cooking…I hope it’s true…probably feeding him a lot fried chicken and “humbang baboy”
Rusty, I wish I can do business here…esp food but I am afraid to be sued because somebody pretending to be sick of what that person bought from me. The insurance is too high and risky. I also wanted to open a daycare center so I can use my expertise but of the same reason, I could not. It is much easier to open a restaurant in the Philippines or catering business.
Yeah, doing the taxes every year is much easier if it is not too complicated. anyway, there are so much help in the internet and between my husband and I, I think we’re pretty good.
Christine, I remembered when I applied for australia, citizenship and time stayed for the person who sponsors you count. so is you the applicant’s education…nurses have better chances. I think I just made it to the required points but my husband’s (my then fiance) petition came way earlier than the Australia’s. How hot is Brisbane? There was a wildfire some months ago, where was that, I could not remember. It was pretty scary. I told my friends here, I’d rather have a snow storm than the wildfire in Texas or California.
OK, guys got to go…
Terry, there are lots of reasons not to work for yourself, steady paycheck, benefits, retirment are some of them. It is definatly less risky to work for someone else, for example, getting sued. Working for yourself is the only way to tap into the milk and honey though. Besides skill, that takes a lot of luck and a long time.
I wish I had tried it. If I had stayed healthy and stayed in my choosen career path, I’d be earning $150,000 a year or more. With a ton of benefits too. That would be hard to beat.
Most people didn’t last more than 10 years in that job though. I loved it though. Preesure doesn’t bother me but its not good for me.
Rusty, what was your job in the US before? How long you’ve been in PI? Aren’t you lucky to enjoy life now, I wish I can do what you are doing…going around Cebu and taking pictures and enjoying the beach. The funny thing though is I grew up in a coastal town but I never care going to the beach because it’s hot. I do not want to be in the sun…ha..ha..ha.. colonial mentality…getting dark. why do you whitening products are so in demand in PI?
we are watching a soccer right now…abby wambach is on it, so I have to sit with my daughter and husband and bond together. God bless…
I was a Revenue Agent.
Yes this is a better life for certain.
When you grow up with it, it doesn’t seem so special for most of us. The heat is only a problem if you stay out of the water.
The resorts usually provide open air restaurant and fan but then the price goes way up eating there!
Yeah, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Pamaloive suggesting their soap has whitening agents. I’ll never trust another advertiser for anything they say. I never did believe much but after seeing that BS, they lost me forever.
It is amusing to me that dark skinned girls want to be lighter and light skined girls in the US want to be darker. Complaining about being white as a ghost.
I think it would be hard for a 15 year old to find a job in the city – wouldn’t it? especially a girl from the province. And study on top of that too. At her age, she is starting high school at 15.
I don’t think Air force personnels in PI get paid that well. I will ask my brother. Of course if you have 5 kids plus a wife plus yourself, and already one daughter in private school. It does get heavy. Also in PI, once you get high school, parents pay for everything. Maybe there’s one in Bogo? I’m sure 20 years ago, kids from the northern tip of Cebu had to go to the city for High School. My memory is vague about this. Will have to ask an Auntie, or if someone from Bogo remembers?
Aside from that, working and studying takes a lot of guts, stamina, motivation, perseverance. I know a lot of people study and work at the same time, even here, except it’s usually the Uni student that do, because we have free high school. I think you really have to have that drive. Mind you , some people who live in extreme poverty don’t necessarily have that drive. An uncle by marriage is a qualified electrician. I told him if he comes to Australia, he can actually bring his family. But he wasn’t interested. He preferred unreliable work rather than face the unknown in Australia. It’s quite possible he was terrified of being homesick.
As for the girl and the kano, I can only see disappointments here. The girl is likely to change her mind, and the Kano loses both ways; his dollar and time. If he did not mind losing a few dollars here and there, then he would lose on time, well big time! 3 years wasted when he could have found someone perhaps closer to age, start now and perhaps still have a relationship at 50 onwards. As it stands now, he is likely to start again at 50.
I really don’t understand why people do what they do…
trying to get nested replies working.
This is odd. Its working now but its not working like it should….
The form to send me a question is offline for now.
You supply the 60 meter yacht, I’ll supply the Mansion, champagne and caviar.
Christine if you’re gonna let me house sit that mansion for you, I’ll get that yacht.
Can I be your concubine? I’d love to be a kept man. LOL
Yeah of course I would. In my dreams….
Are we on the same planet here Rus? It’s supposed to be the Filipina get kept by a rich old man.
At least that’s the sterotype anyway….
Well, for one, I have a pretty strong male identity and I don’t mind if a woman makes more money than me.
I’ve always prided myself on being truly different than most men. I often make them uncomfortable as I had and expressed feelings long before it was okay and desirable to have an emotional side. On the other side of it, it would have been nice if I could have fit in a little better. But about 10 years ago, I just kind of gave the work the finger and decided it was okay to be me, to be who I am.
I haven’t been all that wise with money, kept trying to buy happiness in my youth including my 30′s. Then divorce and child support left me in poverty for a long time. I was making a lot of money for the time but my X-wife learned she could get half my income and not have to put up with me.
Then once that was over I was living on retirement at 45 so I didn’t accumulate a lot of wealth. Sounds like you’ve done pretty good for yourself, Go ahead, pat yourself on the back.
So can I be your concubine?
Russ, you probably did not have a good lawyer. Were you the one divorcing her or she divorced you? I heard it matters who applied for the divorce. I like what Ivana did…as Christine mentioned…”get everything”. So why did you retire early? She will not be able to touch your earnings after your divorce, except child support. How old are your kids? Goodluck…you have to pay
until they are 21, if in college.
Yeah, good point Terry. I think you had a lousy lawyer. Can you get your money back?
Like I said before, I think men go into denial even though they can see their mariage imploding before their eyes. Perhaps in an attempt to save the marriage. I’ve seen so many expats sad stories about having to start again in thier middle life. Even here in Oz, divorced fathers are pretty much in similar positions, paying hundred on maintenance for kids they don’t see coz wife won’t let them, and even when they do, kids’ minds are poisoned against Dad. The saddest thing is, we’ve had a number of murder suicides here, mostly Dads killing their children, then themselves. A very selfish act. I’ve had mothers hospitalized because of this, then they too become suicidal. No easy answer here.
In hindsight, Rus should have chosen a Filipina for wife no.2!
You’re credit card company won’t even give you 2 grand? When I applied for my credit card, they gave me a limit of AU$12,000! When I told them I don’t want that much, they asked me why I didn’t want it! Can you believe that? They actually asked me why I didn’t want it!
ooops, sorry Rusty, I’ve just started a new topic here. he,he.
Only if you massage my feet…
Have you tried feet massage? if not you should try it. I was too embarrassed to ask someone in my town. But I’ve had them done here, I paid a Chinese woman AU$30 for 1/2 hour feet massage. I was falling asleep. I think it is therapeutic….
Christine, there are a lot of free high school institutions in the Phils. I think almost one in each town…it is lower standard than private but it is up to the student to work hard, if he/she really wants to get a high school diploma. you are right, it is hard to be a working and at the same time study, but the university will give you free time to study. You only need to work 4 hours a day in return of your free tuition, miscellaneous fees and monthly allowance. I was assigned in the library, so books were free and you can study if there are lull moments. You are right with the drive…I want to get out of poverty and I can only do that if I finish college. I do not want to be somebody’s maid to clean, cook, wash, and take care of kids for them. Take note that housemaids in the Philippines do most of the chores in the household, except the wealthy ones that they hire several maids, a cook, a driver, washer, etc.
As to the Kano, well, i hope he knows what he is getting into. He could be called a phidophile…the girl is only 15, not of legal age. How could you have a girlfriend at age 45 and she is only 15. and, are the parents that desperate…i wonder if the mom is younger than the Kano. just imagine the Kano calling her Mom…LOL
Rusty, are you planning to buy properties in PI and have a resort? I don’t think you can buy in your name. why don’t you marry Jessie and have a business in both your names. Ooooppps I should stay out of your business…
test
nested replies are still not working… first one post off to the right, then second one works. I’ll have to disable it again.
Rusty, the replies not nesting is driving me nuts!!!
Hey Christine, I give my daughter a full body massage esp. after a soccer game and she loves it. Now my friends are asking me to give them full body massage and I only charge US$30/hour. I know it is so cheap but they are my friends and sometimes they will just say thank you. I self-studied reflexology and I am good at this. My problem is nobody gives me a massage..esp a free one….I would love to have one but it is so expensive. i love it when I wnet to the Phils last january/feb and I had a body massage every night. I am missing it…
Hi Terry, oh, I love full body massage. Are you sure you’re not being exploited by your friends? I am looking forward to having one hour massage in PI.
Last year, I gave the Barrio Hilot P200 for 1 hour back massage. My Auntie said I should only have given her P100, because that was the Barrio people were giving her. My Aunt said because of what I’ve done, the Hilot is probably going to expect everyone to pay her P200! I said to my Aunt that P100 was the fee, and P100 was the tip.
Terry, who is Mia Hamm?
I do understand you wanting to retire in PI. I want to do that too, and the more I witness loneliness here, the more I’m determined I won’t get old here.
I was called to assess someone in the medical ward yesterday. While there, I noticed a very old white woman. The nurses later told me that the patient is waiting for nursing home placement, and that how sad it is that she never had visitors. I remember from my childhood, and even last year, you can never be alone in PI – unless you really want to. I see so many lonely people with my job here. I really feel sorry for old people though. I know my Gran was never alone till her death. Here in Oz, it is heartbreaking to hear of an elderly man/woman dying alone, being found only because the body had started to smell. And yet, once funeral is held, relatives come out to put a claim to the estate.
I was wathcing a video about Phil. beaches. Bohol is gorgeous, just like Cebu. My brother want me to go to Bohol when we arrive in PI this year. He says I would fall in love with it. I’ll have to see how we go. Bantayan is 1st on my list.
I’ve already asked my Nurse Manager to give me 3 months next year. He nearly hit the roof! he said “you might be entitled to it, but I’ll have to find someone to replace you”. I said “well find someone, because you’ll have to do without me one way or another”. Did someone mentioned about Filipinas being submissive?
Christine, Mia Hamm is a great soccer player in the US…she retires now to concentrate on family. Sorry she is Greek to you.
You will love Bohol and I really want you to visit the place. See the Chocolates Hill both in Carmen and Sagbayan towns, Hinagdanan Cave in Dauis (forget the Bohol Beach Club-there are too many beautiful beaches in Cebu), the Loboc River with their floating restaurants, old churches,the tarsiers, Anda town, Talibon town with island hopping (this is my hometown), fresh crabs, big shrimps, the delicacies, Danao town with their suisliding and other activities, Valencia town with their spring water pool and so many towns not discovered but has lots to offer.
The tarsiers are not kagwang…they are so cute and you can put two of them in your palm..that’s how tiny they are. the term kagwang is a term used for somebody who is dumb. I don’t think tarsiers are dumb. My daughter fell in love with them.
Christing, don’t worry about that, talk about whatever strikes your fancy. I’ll move it if it needs to be moved. I’d rather have everyone talking and not worry about what they say were.
Most people destroy their credit in a divorce. I’m shocked I got anything. I think it was a mistake.
You are not likely to fall asleep during a “foot massage” in the Philippines. There is a special method of doing it here that is suppose to treat the entire body.. jessie has been telling me about it.
The first treatment or two hurt. Its called reflexology. Okay you give me a mansion and I’ll masssage your feet.
I’d like to do it, just no budget for it.
Christine, I spent hours on that issue yesterday. I will work on it some more.
Nesting is a new feature for wordpress. It didn’t exist a couple of months ago.
Nesing has its own ssues that make them hard to follow.
Rusty I studied reflexology and I don’t think it hurts for the first time you massage a person’s foot. My daughter is my guinea pig since she was a baby and she loves it. People I do reflexology the first time told it feels good and they want more. it’s probably on the person who’s doing the massage.
it depends I mean…
Refelxology is different from foot massage. Thank you Terry, yes foot massage does not hurt, it shouldn’t. If you are hurting, then the masseuse
is not doing it properly.
By the sound of it, you’ll have to do more foot massage practice on Jess’s foot before I’ll let you live in my mansion
When you buy that mansion, I’ll get busy on learning.
Testing nested replies again.
Nested replies are on and you may use them, t hey are working now.
Now they are broken again. don’t use them. I’m working on it
And now they are working again. I’m so freaking confused.
Oh well, I’m confused but it is working.
Christine, separate bank accounts would have zero effect on your money in a divorce in much of the US. In Tn, it wouldn’t matter at all.
Also, I live on a pension. Would be hard to pay back more than what I have but if I could get my camera…..
For most people, reflexology hurts when its done here.
Recently saw a couple of guys on TV getting one and they wondered why people pay for it. LOL
Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to experience it first hand.
Jessie tells me it hurts so that’s my source. She would have the most up-to-date information. However, things change so much from one place to another that I wouldn’t be surprised to find it hurts in Leyte but not in Cebu.
Rusty, here in Oz (I’m sure you have the in US too) we have “creative accounting”. Only works if you have a business though. I’ve heard of high profile business people claiming poverty at the divorce courts, only to have yet another grand wedding few months later. One of my GF got divorced a few years ago. She wasn’t smart, she was always disagreeing with her lawyer. She got a pittance and the 4 kids. He retained the business, the house, the 4 wheel drive, etc. He’s now married to another Filipina.
In Tn. if you hide assets (fraud) in a divorce and the other spouse finds out at ANY time, they force a new accounting of all assets plus the hidden ones. The court hires a CPA and makes you pay for it.
Then once all is accounted for you have to pay your spouse 150% of what you hid. Not very good way to go about it.
My X didn’t get anything either. Because she wouldn’t sign papers to sell we lost the house. This is why I needed a divorce.
It’s only fraud if you get caught!
Honestly, if I can see my marriage is in trouble, I’ll liquidate everything I can, then hide it before attempting to save marriage. Hard to do with house and car, but there are ways. They can do all the accounting they want, but if they can’t find it? especially if you’re in PI by then
Use Ebay as scapegoat.
I think though, lots of men go into denial, and attempt to save the marriage instead, especially if one is well into middle age. Then find themselves facing divorce and get taken to the cleaners by the ex. Kids can get the matter too complicated and maintenance orders can turn even a well paid executive into a pauper.
Too many women following Ivana Trump’s mantra : “don’t get mad, get everything”
You’ve lost your message box. I ended up getting the day off today, I swapped, so I rang Dawg. He’s got some interesting bits to say. But I’ve just tried sending you a reply to your e-mail, there’s something wrong with my server I think. I can receive emails, but can’t send out. I’ve tried sending to friends, it won’t work. I’ll try in a.m., otherwise, I’ll send it from my hospital email, but that won’t happen until tomorrow night when I go on duty.
Are you getting a message “unable to relay” when you try to send? If it doesn’t go away, you may have to call your provider. They may have changed how you need to setup your email client.
If I were you, I would make gmail my number one email source. It is very reoliable, though it has problems sometimes too. If you change your ISP, your email doesn’t change. You’ll get less spam and fewer messages that are not spam, will get identified as spam. You can even configure it so that you can download your gmail into your email client but you’ll have to read the instructions on how to do it which gmail provides.
I don’t understand what you mean by I’ve lost my message box. Mine is working fine.
I look forward to it when you get a chance.
No, it just say, “Error, STMP rejecting message”. It’s all back now, so it was probably just a hiccup. I was looking for the “Message Box”, you know, the one you advertise users/bloggers to use for questions etc. I thought I’d use that seeing I can’t use my e-mail. My ISP doesn’t really screw up that much, if they do it more often, I’ll give them the flick. I get 10GB for AU$45/month. I think they’re reasonable.
Oh yeah, I need to add that back. I removed it the other day trying to get the nested comments working.
Are you sure it is reflexology not acupuncture that hurts? Nobody told me that it hurts when i do reflexology. My daughter and my friends tell me it feels good. It hurts when the person doing the procedure has long nails.
I’m sure its not acupuncture. Sometimes things hurt in a way that feels good. Like a muscle massage. My calves hurt all the time and the reflexology they usually practise here, it is suppose to help everything.
I need it have it done so I can end the speculation but if you’re going to do it, you need it weekly and I don’t have the budget for that.
And I’ve forgotten my WordPress password -it’s at home,everyone’s asleep, so I can’t log in!
WordPress will send your password to email if you can access it. If you used Gmail you could access it. LOL
I can’t access WordPress because I didn’t have my password. Gmai – what’s that? I’m set in my ways. I’ve got enough electronic things to worry about without adding Gmail. Bob even sent me an invite for facebook which I haven’t attended yet.
gmail = http://www.gmail.com it makes no difference to me if you sign up but it would help you. I told you how some place else.
wordpress will send you your password after your login attempt fails it wll give you a link for forgot password, click it and sendit to you email.
I’m having a lot of trouble with my internet lately. Everything it clears up, we seem to have another brown out and when the power is back on, my internet connection is barely working.
I’ve also been sleeping a lot. Not of my own free will, I just can’t stay awake and then I sleep so much that I can’t go to sleep at night.
I just noticed that my most recent messages on that other thread we are all bantering on have been posting weirdly, out of chronological order. I wonder what’s going on..
Its called nested replies. If you click the reply button the message will post under the comment you reply too.
If you go to the box at the end. It is much easier to follow conversations if you use the reply function. Its just he way WordPress works now.
Joe, this new system is actually driving me nuts! I prefer the old way. But then, as I said, I’m set in my ways…
Chrstine, I’m sorry that you are unhappy but you were unhappy the other way too. You complained about the messages not nesting so I spent a day on it fixing it. Now you’re complaining because they are?
I have made some changes, the nesting was getting hard to follow because I was allowing nesting up to 10 levels deep. now its only five but that has its issues too.
Nothing is perfect. I told you at the time that there were problems with nested comments too.
Rusty, I complained about the replies not nesting, yes I admit that. What I mean is, I much preferred the old one where it was just in order of the latest posts, I think that was easier to follow. I think this is what Joe meant, is that right Joe?
Oh well, I guess everyone’s asleep at this time of the morning. It’s 0330hrs Aussie time. It’s just crazy nurses like me who stays up at night. I must have been a vampire in previous life – LOL!
I’ve always preferred the night time. Once I was diagnosed with lupus, I figured the two were related. As you probably know, lupus and the sun doesn’t mix. Its actually deadly. My hair use to be reddish but after the dx, I avoided the suns o much that its lost most of the red. Heck, I’ve lost most of the hair. Grrrr
I am a vampire in this life, except I don’t suck blood. But the sun does make my skin fall off.
I prefer to be on a more normal schedule as it allows me to participate more in the world of others. Maybe I should just start painting my lips black and join the goth movement.
Rusty. what form of lupus do you have? My brother in law has it too and he is on blood thinner. He also in early retirement and he wants to live in a warmer place. He is not losing any hair but it’s his legs that are bothering him.
Nesting does have its advantages. But it does get confusing as to which ones’ the latest postings. Yeah I know you can check this on the right side. Confusing nevertheless. I guess we’ll probably get used to this.
Couple of hints about nesting. First I changed it to go only five levels deep as it was too hard to read after five levels. Just a matter of time before someone ask how come I can’t reply. The reply button goes away after the fifth. Then you have to go to the bottom and start a new one.
However, you an always go to the bottom and just use the box and then it doesn’t reply. It’s much easier to follow the conversation AND all the side conversations don’t derail the topic this wall.
If you use the Recent Comments tool on the right sidebar and click on the name of the person that left the comment and wait for the page to fully load, you’ll be taken right to the comment.
Yes the days of going to the bottom comment are gone and good residence.
You know a good trick that I use sometimes is the F11 key. Once you’re on a page that you want to stay on its great. Gets rid of all the navigation stuff and other tool bars. Just press F11 again to bring them all back. Gives you a much larger view of the page your on.
Terry,
I move messages when they totally change the subject of the post. Its okay, reply however you like, I will move then if they need to be.
You might could have gone back to your long message by using the back arrow. We all have this happen from time to time.
A flaky connection can cause it. A flaky connection could have caused that anti-spam message. I don’t think it is the size of the message but the length might be causing things to slow down which triggers the anti spam measures. I’m looking into it more. i don’t wan that happening. The tool has blocked over 2000 spam messages. I may look for another solution.
Terry, I have systemic lupus. Pretty mild most of the time.
I am thinking I will close the old forum and open one that is more closely tied in with the blog. I myself havn’t checked my forums in a long time.
Wonder if anyone is interested, its a much better place to discuss all these side issues but I dn’t want to kill the blog either.
Frequent readers will notice that things have changed!
Don’t worry, I’m not done yet. For now to find the latest post go to “Time Line” in the sidebar.
I’m still trying to fully grasp what I have to work with here.
Thanks for your patience!
Why is this one between March 27 and April 8th? You’re giving me a headache.
Because I replied to a comment instead of the post. Hope that helps. Its called nested comments. Notice that your comment is a slightly different color and inset just a tad. I will try to make the threads stand out more but that requires some heavy editing of either the PHP or CSS or both and since I don’t even know which one it means I’m in over my head but I can get help.
nesting is a new feature of wordpress, and this theme make it a little hard for us old people that don’t see well any more.
You know I confuse easily.
It makes it a little harder to find replies unless you use the recent replies tool in the right side bar.
If you click on the persons name in that tool, it will take you right to their reply.
Hey Folks, I’ve been out of town for a couple of days.
I’ll try to get caught up tomorrow. I’m pretty beat.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Hey Rusty, I sent you an email about that “question” you want me to ak bro. No problems, there’s nothing to worry about. He said just keep enjoying your retirement.
I don’t remember which question, there are several. I will read it soon if I can stay awake. LOL
You asked me to check with Dawg re-Juliet. He said it’s OK. Nothing to worry.
I have 138 emails and I could have missed it but I searched for it and didn’t find it. Do you have a copy? I’d really like to see what it said.
Hey Rusty, I always get the error..so i am trying this now..
You didn’t get it that time. I tired to email you but the address in your profile appears to be invalid.
You might want to copy and paaste the error. “This Error” makes it hard for me to help.
I’m going to check to see if there is another attack.
Rusty, I got it now but I do not know how my email add is invalid. I have been using it a lot lately. thanks though. I am trying to raise funds for my daughter’s soccer and so I am selling AVon and use that email address.
Next time you leave a message double check it and see if there is a typo. I will try to email you again. It was about two weeks ago when I tried.
It wasn’t an attack, it was a lot of use causing the site to max out but it wasn’t an attack. Sure looked like one.
I tried again, it was rejected again and Yahoo is reporting no such account.
Rusty I do not know why but I just checked my emails using my yahoo account and it is fine. I am using this for my business too so it is working. It is 11:01 pm right now and I checked my email at 1058pm. Monday night for us, dytime Tuesday for you.
Terry, please check that the email you enter as you leave a message is typed correctly.
Do you get emails from the site when someone responds to your messages?
The anti-spam methods that Yahoo uses blocks a lot of good emails. I’ll try sending from a different address and see if I get the same thing.
Rusty, I believe I missed a t (the second t) in my email add…I jsut fixed it…you are right, I mispelled it, that’s why. Thanks for the info….No, I do not get emails when somebody responds, that’s probably why..
Glad you got it fixed! You may have to correct it each time for a while. Hopefully the software will remember the last one used. I think it will.
Thanks for the help friends…i now know how to use avatar…
Things sure have got quite with Christine being offline.
She should be in the PI but I’ve not heard from her.
To make it worse, Terry too is on vacation. She said to send her regards to all the regulars.
I’ll be glad when those two ladies get back home.
im moving to Surigao City in Sept. and getting married…. was wondering if i still have to renew visa every 59 days after married to filipina?? thanks
Not after you apply for and receive your visa.
wow this site is more confusing than a divorce decree,especially for a redneck
I have found your site extremely helpful. Thank you. is there another email address to contact you folks?
Awww I see the form is broken!… Something else for me to fix. haha
[email protected]
There, I fixed the form too.
Hello Cebuano Expat,
I am writing to inquire what kind of revenue streams you have coming in aside from pension etc in the Philippines. I am a 24 year old male looking to make the big jump to RP in order to start a business etc. If you could let me know how easy it is or hard it is to make money I would be most obliged.
I am an Internet marketer. I make money online. I offer a free course on how to get started at Beginners Learn To Earn.
I’m on a tourist visa so I can have a business in the Philippines.
“Your location has been identified as part of a reported spam network. Contact form has been disabled to prevent spam.”
———————————————-
Rusty, have I down something wrong ??? Tom
No. Either it is broken or someone using the same IP you are using has been spamming [email protected]
I did some checking, doesn’t seem your IP is in the MAIN block list but someone on your network may be guilty of forum or comment spamming someplace on the net. Even with all the anti spam tools I have in place, I still get over 300 spam comments a day. Rarely do they get posted.
I wish I could find what is breaking the comment number count. Since you can post a comment though, it must be related to just the form. The form is not broken as it worked for me even when I’m not logged in as admin. I don’t now.
Rusty,
seems I have been black-listed and branded as a spammer.
Kindly advise as to why ?. If I have offended you in the dollar-peso discussion that certainly was not my intent.
Tom Boothe
Tom, i replied to your email. I’m sorry you had a problem. I’m not offended.
I did nothing to block you. I have turned off some of the spam prevention now. Hopefully you wont have a problem again.
It appears that some of the things I’ve been doing to speed the site up also broke some things. To be honest, it is driving me a bit insane. Just now, i “cleared the cache” and several comments that have been hung up in the system suddenly showed up.
It’s not a left wing conspiracy, just me trying to speed the site up using some complex methods and it is sometimes breaking things and driving me insane trying to figure out what I need to do.
I’m glad you emailed me and told me of the problem otherwise I would have never know!
Greetings,
I find the website to be very informative or then a few rants in the comment section. Life is to short for that. I will be moving to the Philipines within the next 6 months and would like to know about purchasing or xarrying a firearm. I’m a retired cop from Canada and interested in this topic.
Please feel free to email me anytime.
There is some information here about carrying a firearm on this site. It can be done but it is not easy.
I found a really good article on the subject in a newspaper but i lost the article.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t own a weapon in the Philippines. Many will tell you that. You can. I suspect you must be on a resident visa. There is also a little information on that in my eBook but I wouldn’t buy it just for that, there is not enough information in it for just that topic.
I’m glad you like the site, I didn’t follow your meaning on the rants in the comments. Pretty much the only time I do that is when someone just trashes the Philippines in an unjustified way.
I’ll even let people trash me when they feel the need too, within reason.
PS, I had a carry permit when I lived in the USA. I don’t really need it here and most long term expats would advise against it. I’m not sure where I come down on that. I would like to carry myself but found too many roadblocks in my case. I think it was with the type of my visa and it is rather expensive.
Hey Rusty Have you ever thought of makeing a Bucket list? I don’t plan on kicking the bucket for a vey long time but I think that by making one I will be able to realize and experince many things that I would not have otherwise.
Also you seemed to have changed the navigation of the site around a bit, I can’t seem to find the navigation page where all the posts were linked together in a row by common topic. Please link it for more me, TNX
Also I know a lady who works in Palawan Tourisim for the government, do you want me to give you the contact info so u can better plan for your trip?
The links are still there, just not as many of them. There were too many links… Slowing the site down. I’m having a heck of a time speeding it up some more. Tripled my hosting cost, added something called a content distribution network and even have tried hosting it in a cloud. I’ve got other sites hosted in the cloud but as soon as I do that with this one, it breaks. I don’t know what is up. I don’t think the cloud is getting setup correctly.
The links that are still there are in the same place, but the picture for Filipina Cupid is next to it. I’ll try to come up with a way to add those back in for you. I might be able to put them on a page. Or I may add a cloud (different from what I was talking about above) to do it.
I really have too many categories. I’ve been trying to combine them. I’ll see what i can do. I’m getting sleepy.
I added a link at the top of the page called “Topics” It includes a much longer list of articles by topic that you wanted.
Hey Rusty…
I have been living in Cebu since 2003. I found work (on and off) as a English Teacher. But in 2 more years I can get my Social Security so now I am looking for property to buy and build a house. Bogo has much cheap land but…… How do you feel living there… (I also have a Philippina wife) but people still kinda bother me in Cebu, you know the stares, hey Joe, etc…a small thing…but how is it there where few foreigners live?
The worst part for me is getting food I like….fish and rice do not cut it with me for long…..I need a pizza or something once in a while, he he ! So all in all, can you get what you want there (no Giasano there)? Do locals make you feel welcome or uncomfortable so you feel like an outsider?
Hi Michael, 2003? this is rusty on my gf’s account. I’m not on my pc.
I don’t understand why hey joe would bother you, people are trying to be friendly when they all you that. I know it bothers a lot but I don’t understand that. People stare because you’re different, I don’t even notice. I just say hello. they are really wanting to interact with you but waiting for you to signal that you’re friendly. Smile and say hello, 99.9% of the time it will be returned. I don’t even notice being stared at.
I love living in Bogo, it is friendlier but I have been stared at. Just do what I suggested.
We have a couple of pizza places. One I have not tried, one has air con, Pizza is not great but passable. We have a Gaisanao. Pries are a little higher there than in the city. Jessie usually goes to the city once per month to stock up on some things.
I love it here, friendly, safe, can walk down the street with your cell phone for example. I like it but doesn’t mean you will. I think a bus trip would be in order. Lots of air con buses now. I’m so happy to see that!
Rusty,
I recently purchased your e-book and was very satisfied. I am in the beginning stages of planning a trip to the Philippines in December. I am just not sure what island to visit.
Hi JJ, Cebu is always a good choice for a start. This is rusty, I’m not at home right now and I can’t access my freaking passwords. Driving me a little batty.
I’m going to start volume two of the book next month. It will include more discussion about each area of the Philippines. I hope to get it out next month. I hoped to do it this month but I’ve had a rare month of lots of travel. You will have volume two as well as volume one.
Cebu is said to have the lowest crime rate in the Philippines, now that may be Cebu’s interpretation. It does have less civil unrest than most other areas.
Gotta go to breakfast. More later
Yes but sometimes its darker than what I know of Wiccans, or most of them. Not a whole lot but most Wiccans take the right hand path. It is my understanding that those that practise this here will do what you want them to do, regardless of the path. I don’t know if there has to be adequate justification or is supposes to be. I suspect cash does more of the justification but I don’t have any first hand knowledge.
The Philippines, in ancient times worshipped animal gods. Very earthy indeed. I’m a bit intrigued at how pagan religions (hope I’m using the correct terms) around the world have so many basics in common.
I’ve never heard anyone here say they are wiccan. Probably find more of that in Manila, bound to exist there. I think everything does. But, you might find things in common with the “quack doctors” here. Probably not the hilots, but the other word that I can’t remember.
I had never heard of the folks that do the adjustments here, only the folks that due the chants and smoke and dances. I had only heard of the healing side of this once before. Every time it came up before it as a Filipina talking about getting even with someone.
Side moral of the story, don’t wrong Filipina.
They are not nearly as timid as they seem. 
It would be interesting to hear what you can findn out after your here.. you’d be more likely to know what to look for. It would be really interesting to know the similarities, if any.
Voila Terry! you’ve figured out the pics. That’s your daughter I assumed? Nice pics, except I can’t see who she looked like! She looked very athletic.
I know and then I do not know how to turn it the right way…I am suppose to know computer because I took courses ..microsoft office, etc… but …LOL
What happened to you pic???? it’s gone…
Christine, I was supposed to use my pics but it turned out I do not have any on my computer..these are all in my husband’s computer so I will upload these and move to mine…the problem is, he changed his password because I broke his computer to watch filipino movies..so he bought me a new one and to stay away from his…which was a good thing that I broke it coz he got me another one. My daughter is happy as well because she got mine..
Oh, I’ve just made a few adjustments, it will reappear in a few hours.
You can copy your pic from one computer to the other, just use an external saving device like a USB stick, and you can transfer anything to your computer.
If you don’t have an external device, you can also save them to CD. Even easier, upload them a free picture site such as Google Pictures and then right click it and save it to your computer.
Christine, you need to go back to Gravater, you’ve busted your picture.
OK. I’m into that – darn Gravatar! I kept telling you, your website is haunted.
Yeah, you couldn’t possibly be that you messed up?
Make sure you’ve typed your email address in correctly.
I know that! Trying to change emails and pics. But I think I’ve got it – I think??
I found the Gravator (I also wish I could remember how to spell it) confusing at first too.
I think I found the problem. For some reason, the email kept reverting to the old one? So are you able to put my new Gravatar/
Keep trying, it still not right.
Lately you’ve been using an email account in your post that I have not seen before.
You can put all three of your email addresses within one Gravator account. You can also use different photo for each address, I think.
I think you have to assign a pic to each email account. it can be the same pic.
Have no idea! I give up! I think I’ll just close the whole thing and start again when I come back.
If you give me your login info, I’ll try to fix it for you.
If it is a password you use often, change it to something else, give it to me in email. I’ll fix it for you and thn you can change it back.
It’s OK. I’ll fix it soon. I can’t remember the password. I wrote it on my notebook with the phone nos. and I spilt coffee all over it 2 weeks ago, now I can’t read it!