Daily Report: Where The Wild Things Are

I stopped by Chase Manhattan bank this morning. Epril's ATM card is expiring in The Philippines and I wanted to see if there were alternatives to an ATM withdrawal to get my wife the cash she needs.

There weren't. Well, obviously there were, but I didn't like any of them. International money transfers to Epril's bank account would cost $45 each (quite a bit more than I pay in ATM fees every 2 weeks). Western Union would be even more, especially for the $1000-plus transfers. PayPal would be free, but it would take at least a week to get the money from my bank account to my PayPal account then to Epril's PayPal account, then to Epril's bank account: Not good for emergencies. In the end, what we'll do is have Epril change her bank to Citibank, which has a branch in Cagayan De Oro. Then, I should be able to go to Citibank here in Florida and deposit money in her account there. That should be the fastest method.

I was looking at rental properties in the area the other day. The most expensive place on the list caught my eye: $5,000 per month, fully furnished. But what a deal if you could afford it: A massive lakefront mansion. Since it was only a couple of miles away from my bank, I drove over to take a look at it.

It's only (comparatively) moderately impressive from the front, but look at it from the air. It sits on 5 acres of lakeside land. You can also check out a slide show of the house here to see the interior. I know... just a dream. But when I was living in Thailand, I was paying 70,000 baht per month for my house there... and this house rents for only a little over twice that... and is 4 times the size, 10 times prettier and fancier, and 20 times the amount of land. Anybody on the West Coast of Florida want to share rent costs?

I saw this fellow walking across the street today. He was about the size of a watermelon... or a rugby ball. Apparently these guys are endangered. Since you don't want to see one get squished on a highway, I pulled over, helped the fellow get to the other side of the road, and then snapped his photo for my scrapbook.

After the bank, I did a bit of shopping. I bought a desk lamp and a miniature 4-inch fan for my office. (Now I don't need to turn on the air conditioning as often.) I also finally had to go to the grocery store and buy stuff, even though my fridge is not yet empty: I ran out of coffee, without which I cannot survive.

When I got back to the house, I left the car port door open as I carried in the bags, and a cardinal flew in behind me and went straight through to the veranda, where he got trapped by the screen.

Fortunately Cousin Paul stopped by at that moment to invite me over to dinner, and he got a towel and trapped the scared bird and set it free.

I had a great day of work today and tonight.

Back in The Philippines, Epril was out today with her father and Susan (recently returned from Holland). Then she was back at the house watching movies with her friends. I'm happy with her new living arrangements: Now that she is out of Jasaan, things have quieted down considerably, and she has a nice circle of friends who always keep her company.