The picture above is Olongapo City, Philippines in a recent flood and my story about a month during monsoon season near there is below, after my affirmation about life this day.
Grandpa Billy is having a happy day today. A few beers and wonderful conversation with Joyce has been great. The rain today reminds me of the 30 days Cal and I spent on Cubi Point, nearby Olangapo in the Philippines many years ago. It never stopped raining in those 30 days and we were bivouacked in a huge barracks on high ground that had no air conditioning, just open windows that even though there were no leaks in the roof, the humidity caused our bunks to feel like they were damp or even wet. I had a pair of shoes that got so moldy I through them away. There was an Australian ship in port during that time and on our visits to the enlisted men's club had the place filled with Australian sailors. The club had more roof leaks than anyone could imagine. There were galvanized tubs big enough to bathe in that filled with water. The Australian sailors had their own shore patrol that came ashore with the sailors on liberty. At the enlisted club their shore patrol were drinking almost as much as those on liberty, but when an Australian sailor would pass out at the table, the shore patrol would drag him over to one of the tubs filled with water and dunk them in the tub until they revived and then drag them back to the table for another round or two. Cal and I would have to get all the coffee and food for the long 12 plus hours radar patrols out to the gulf of Tonkin and back so we would be soaked to the skin before we climbed aboard the plane before we took off for the gulf.The only time Cal and I dried out from the rain was when we were aboard the plane.
It is funny to me how some of the most miserable times in life become fond memories years later. I suppose it makes me feel like I can withstand anything life has thrown at me so far, although Joyce's tribulations from October 19, 2017 through February of 2018 taxed me beyond anything I could imagine; I hope I never face anything like that again.
Grandpa Billy is having a happy day today. A few beers and wonderful conversation with Joyce has been great. The rain today reminds me of the 30 days Cal and I spent on Cubi Point, nearby Olangapo in the Philippines many years ago. It never stopped raining in those 30 days and we were bivouacked in a huge barracks on high ground that had no air conditioning, just open windows that even though there were no leaks in the roof, the humidity caused our bunks to feel like they were damp or even wet. I had a pair of shoes that got so moldy I through them away. There was an Australian ship in port during that time and on our visits to the enlisted men's club had the place filled with Australian sailors. The club had more roof leaks than anyone could imagine. There were galvanized tubs big enough to bathe in that filled with water. The Australian sailors had their own shore patrol that came ashore with the sailors on liberty. At the enlisted club their shore patrol were drinking almost as much as those on liberty, but when an Australian sailor would pass out at the table, the shore patrol would drag him over to one of the tubs filled with water and dunk them in the tub until they revived and then drag them back to the table for another round or two. Cal and I would have to get all the coffee and food for the long 12 plus hours radar patrols out to the gulf of Tonkin and back so we would be soaked to the skin before we climbed aboard the plane before we took off for the gulf.The only time Cal and I dried out from the rain was when we were aboard the plane.
It is funny to me how some of the most miserable times in life become fond memories years later. I suppose it makes me feel like I can withstand anything life has thrown at me so far, although Joyce's tribulations from October 19, 2017 through February of 2018 taxed me beyond anything I could imagine; I hope I never face anything like that again.
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