Rusty Ferguson.com

Bus Trips and Bonsai Trees

Rusty — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:14:27 +0000

Been pretty busy the last couple of days. I bought three bonsai trees yesterday and wrote more about that on http://www.cebuexperience.com site.

Today I went to Cebu City and spent too much money, it may destroy my chance to go during Sinulog, a huge festival in Cebu City, possibly the largest in the Philippines.

I’m a bit stoked on Starbucks and chocolate right now so I’ll be back when I get out of orbit. Just wanted to let folks know where I was. I haven’t posted in part because i was gone and in part some hackers taking up my time.

Not Myself

Rusty — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:46:07 +0000

Bored in Bogo

Not sure what’s going on with me but for the last couple of days I’ve been kind of down. There’s no reason in the world for it. I’m bored too. Went for a walk tonight, Jessie thought I was joking when I said I was going out about 9pm. I suppose I’m having a bit of depression but I don’t think it will last long.

Its cool here and she nearly froze to death, lots of Filipina were bundled up, but mostly the married ones. The unmarried ones that didn’t have guys with there were showing lots of skin. LOL I still enjoy the looks I get from the ladies here. They often sneak them in even when they are with their guy and even though Jessie is with me.

It has been a lot cooler than it has been. I wont say it is abnormal because i don’t know what is normal, this is my first Janurary here. it is not winter, it is nearing the end of th rainy season in the Philippines and summer is just around the corner. I have been told different dates for the beginning of summer but I think it is March. I have been told February. Like many things in the Philippines, even different Filipino tell me different things about the same event. The culture changes from town to town or district to district. The districts are called Barangay. The Barangay are based on anceint tribal boundaries.

Jessie has been obsessing on games and I don’t feel like being on the comptuer much for the last few days. I’ve been watching way to much TV but I mostly watch the news channels or science/nature channels. I wish we had the military channel. We do have the Pentagon Channel and I watch that at times, but it can get pretty dry. I’m not much of a TV watcher. With Jessie obsessing on computer games and me board with TV I’m getting a little cabin fever I suppose.

I’ve written several stories about the pros and cons on moving to the Philippines on http://www.heyjoe.ph and some at least one story about the New Years Eve celebration here in the Philippines and the explosion that occurs here on my http://www.cebuexperience.com

Christmas Photos

Rusty — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:50:40 +0000

Christmas Photos on Cebu Experience

I posted twelve pictures mostly taken on Christmas eve. They are of the boys making their Christmas stockings, something I did when I was about Jason’s age.

There are some pictures of Christmas decorations of the type I’ve only seen in the Philippines but think they have a bit of Chinese and Spanish influence about them

Take a look at Living In Cebu.

Christmas, New Years and I

Rusty — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:35:33 +0000

Living In Cebu, Philippines

Things are still going great. Still having the time of my life. I feel pretty good, except in the mornings of course. I’ve been walking a bit more at night rather than the day to avoid the sun. Jessie and a friend have been pointing out some cities in Luzon and Mindanao that are in the mountains and the temperatures are much nicer. I’d hate to leave Bogo City but those cooler temperatures sure sound nice to me and the pictures I’ve seen of the places are awesome.

I’ve been busy working on my sites at Expats Living In The Philippines and Expats Living in Cebu Site where I have posted quite a bit about living in the Philippines.

I posted, what I think could be a controversial post on my new political blog.
I think gay America is being a bit hypocritical in their attempt to exclude Rick Warren from joining in the Obama inauguration.

I think we are headed to war with Iran. I will write about that on The Hobbyist-Economist.com. The timing would be perfect. We are in a weakened state with the economy doing badly and our two ongoing wars. Hamas is attacking Israel and Hamas is backed by Iran. And we have a change in presidential administration. Obama could bring real change in relations between Muslims and Christians and Iran does not want peace. This is just not looking like a good situation at all!

Jessie and I went to the BBQ by the Bay last night. I should have taken my video camera as there were a group of three or four Pinoy (male Filipino) singing along with an acoustic guitar. They sang very well. Jessie took a couple of pictures for me.

We got the boys bikes for Christmas a bunch of toy trucks and cars along with some super duper water guns which Jessie wants to claim as her own. We also bought the boys a Fisher-Price digital camera. Jessie bought me a billfold. It’s pretty nice and she surprised me with it. I remember her showing me some in from a local catalog but I don’t know if that is where she got it.

I took mostly video during the Christmas celebration but have some pictures too. They will be online soon, many are already online in post on my Cebu Experience site.

With New Year’s Eve approaching, people are singing on their karaoke machines all day long. And singing very badly. When I woke up, I heard no singing and was surprised. I’m hearing it now and have beenf or a couple of hours and when I go to sleep, I’m certain I will be hearing it some more. :)

My Christmas In the Philippines

Rusty — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 07:12:05 +0000

My First Christmas In The Philippines

I thought I’d make some random notes about what is going on with myself and those close to me for my first Christmas in the Philippines. I have spent many Christmas’ alone. Sometimes not even a phone call. It doesn’t take a lot for my Christmas to be good. I wish I had my computer here so I had all my Christmas music. Perhaps by next year we’ll have that and a karaoke machine as well. Not being alone is all i really need to have a fantastic Christmas. I estimate spending about 10 Christmas alone, including the two most recent ones.

I will probably post additional articles on my first Christmas here as the day continues. I’m not dreaming of a white Christmas, but I sure would enjoy a cooler Christmas, just a little cooler? :)

Soon after awaking, Jessie and I headed out for some last minute errands. Mostly things for a simple Christmas meal. Jessie put all the Christmas presents out except the two bikes for the boys, Jason and Jermain.

Jessie thinks the tree is loaded with gifts. She was so happy with what she saw after she put out the packages. I thought it was pretty modest myself. As long as she and the boys are happy, that’s all that matters to me.

When the boys came home from the yaya’s family home, Jermain went up to the Christmas tree, picked up a package and prepared to use it like a bat on the tree. LOL I yelled and Beth (the yaya) came running. I mean he really rared back and was about to smack that tree right out of the room! I yelled his name loud enough that he stopped in mid swing. I was surprised he did. I just knew he was going to do it!

When the yaya went back home, Jermain really wanted to go with her. There is a sari sari store (Philippine version of a convenience store) near them that loves to spoil him and spoil him totally. They say he owns the store. He was a bit fussy, so Jessie gave him a package to open. He managed to get one end open and could see a truck and he went vroooom vroooom but he could figure out how to get it out of there.

After about five minutes, I finally took it from him and showed him how to rip into it. That was the end, he knows exactly what to do now to get into Christmas packages. :) He is pretty happy with the toy fire truck and has been playing with it for about an hour, maybe longer. He is also guarding it, pushing us away if we try to “borrow” it. I have video. I’ve taken a lot of video over the last two days and plan to get a lot more before Christmas is over.

It will be some time though before I am able to put them online, but I will one of these days. I have taken still pictures as well, not enough but the video camera is better suited for Christmas scenes.

Sixty Year Old Fat People?

Rusty — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 09:16:22 +0000

My battle of the bulge is in full on retreat!

I am so hungry right now. I guess I’ll just have to get use to it. As I see it, I have two choices. I can either loose weight or die within the next ten years. Per one doctor, I’m already on borrowed time. According to another doctor anything after 55 will be lucky. He did say it is up to God though.

The first few months I was in the Philippines, I lost another 20 pounds. I was doing great until I got sick and stayed sick for a couple of months. But that was two months ago now and I’m still regaining the weight I lost. I have now gained it all back.

The first two months I was here, I was too broke to eat too much. :) Maybe I should wish for that again but I didn’t find that very much fun, so I think I’ll try to self control instead. I’m hungry now, so I must be doing okay with it, for now.

I realized my drinking milk instead of eating diet isn’t going to work here. My nonfat milk is full of calories. I’ve been drinking way too much of that to loose weight. For now, I’ll eat a bit more popcorn and just do without. I have no choice. It gets old to be hungry all the time.

I’ve been trying to eat fewer pork chops and more chicken. The pork chops I’ve been eating are so small, hard to believe they could make me fat. :) Especially since they are BBQ’d. I sure wish I had my Kroger’s super lean “ham” that I use to buy. Not going to find that here. It was cheap and cooked on my George Foreman grill made it really good for me. Even with cheese. :)

Only one thing to do, try again and be hungry. Did I mention I hate being hungry?

Christmas For The Lonely

Rusty — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:57:44 +0000

Dreaming of a Not Being Alone Christmas

For some people, Christmas is a time of dread and pain. They usually remember the good time, maybe last year or maybe 20 years ago. I think the memory of those good times make it even harder. People often suggest to them to go volunteer for a soup kitchen on Christmas day or something like that. That’s not a bad idea except, for many people that are alone, their alone because they don’t relate to people very well. They may be very shy. It is likely that the loneliness leaves them with the feeling that others don’t want to be around them. That makes volunteerism difficult for many. If they can get past that, doing something productive, giving to others really can help one feel less alone or at least take the bit out of it. Giving to others can give someone a reason for being, it can bring a peace. Again, many people that are alone for Christmas are alone the rest of the time too, Christmas just makes it extremely difficult. I’ve witnessed some extreme Christmas pain by some people during the Christmas season, especially on Christmas day.

Suicides go up during Christmas, people seem others surrounded by family and friends as they sit at home, alone. If they watch TV they see more people having fun and wishing them a Merry Christmas over the airways. In some cases, this can just increase the pain. I’ve seen it draw an angry response. Suggest they treat themselves to a movie. Most theaters are open Christmas day.

Is there anything you can do to help these people? Yes. They may be the slightly odd guy down the street that’s often outside watching people. The old woman or the old man, perhaps their family is all gone. Maybe you don’t want to contact them directly. Then leave something at the door, do it anonymously. Put a note in their door, just say something like “from someone that cares.” Some kind of Christmas food might be good, cookies? But, maybe he’s diabetic. Try to find something as neutral as you can. Even a card left at his door, if at all possible, put their name on it. Otherwise they may think it wasn’t meant for them.

Find the way that is best for you. I think it is less of a problem in the Philippines, families here are almost always close. If you’re in Cebu City or other large city it would be a great time to take something to the homeless people. In the USA, it is a problem bigger than many people realize.

Remember, you’re not doing this for you, you’re doing it to possibly completely turn around someones pain during a time when the pain can be devastating.

Bush Dodges Shoes

Rusty — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:31:40 +0000

President Bush Handles Flying Shoes Like a Pro

I wrote an article about the famous Bush show throwing incident on my political site. I thought he handled it extremely well. Way to go Mr. President!

Check it out: American Politics

First Philippine Christmas

Rusty — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:13:07 +0000

Christmas Shopping With Jessie

I enjoyed watching Jessie today while we were shopping for toys and decorations for Christmas. Prince Warehouse had specials starting today so we waited until now to do any real Christmas shopping. She was so happy when the toys for the boys started piling up. I could see it all over her face. it kind of looked like the Christmas she always wanted as a child. in many ways, she was very child like today. I loved every minute of it.

It warmed my heart to see her so happy. It definitely put me in the Christmas mood. It wasn’t about feeling better about myself either. It was about her and our boys.

I’ll post more as there is more to post about my first Christmas in the Philippines.

Computer Problems

Rusty — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 05:07:25 +0000

Woke to a Dead Monitor

This morning, I awoke to a dead backlight on my Sony VAIO. Being a notebook that I bought in 2002, I suppose that’s not really a surprise. I have TV out and monitor out, I’m probably going to buy a new monitor and connect it to the external monitor connector. I tried to borrow Jessie’s but it comes up out of range and I do not remember how to force that to reset. I use to know how in Windows but I forgot. That wouldn’t do me a lot of good now since I’m using Ubuntu and I don’t plan on going back.

Problem with Ubuntu and Evolution

I have also been having an issue with Evolution that comes with Ubuntu. I like it and I intend to drop Thunderbird and switch to Evolution. I’ve had one problem with it though, it keeps forgetting my passwords. I plan to go to the Ubuntu forum to check that out but if you know how to fix it, please comment or use the contact me form below and let me know!

I’ll have to take money out of going out of the country fund in order to buy a new monitor. This month everything is going to Christmas. I guess I could bump Jessie off her machine until next month but I really don’t want to do that. Dang that little hottie is expensive. :) No problem with it though, she’s worth far more than I can give her. In money and every other way.