OnMyWay

I was wondering that as well, because for the U.S. Social Security pension, my wife would have to live in the U.S. for 5 years before she is eligible to collect from my account. That is one of the top reasons we are considering moving to the U.S.

Yes, I know, just an announcement, but others seemed to think there was some kind of big change. The BIG change just got voted down in the Senate a few days ago!

There is nothing new here and it is not about registering to vote. Voter registration is done at the state level and county level, so you have to deal with them to get registered. Here is the first step in the Embassy instructions: Start by confirming your voter registration with your state. Some states require absentee voters to register annually so you may need to re-register. Go to FVAP.gov to connect to your state’s voter portal to register to vote, request a ballot, and more. The main reason for the Embassy announcement (they do this before all Federal elections) is to remind people that they can drop their physical ballots at the U.S. Embassy, if needed, and they will be transported via diplomatic pouch. Not very many people can conveniently get to the U.S. Embassy. They don't even really recommend it.... For faster processing, you may want to consider using a courier service or other global shipping provider. There is another option for some of you, but you need to double check before going. The RAO offices in Olongapo and Angeles function as U.S. Post Offices for U.S. vets. I'm fairly certain they will accept ballots from any U.S. citizen, but call first. You will just have to pay the postage and then they take the mail to the Embassy, where it is put in the dip pouches. Luckily, Broward County Florida, where I am registered, allows me to e-mail the ballot. Due to the pandemic, probably a lot of states allow this now, so check.

Yes, inkjet. The giant qr on the full page version scans, but the mini one will not.

Me too! Do you have one of these? I made a tiny wallet sized one of these for my wallet but the QR code doesn't seem to work.

Olongapo caught their error and republished their graphic with the info that private schools have discretion. So our other private school changed to just one week.

Heeb, we have a lot of neighbors who are very passionate about animal welfare and they are very happy to jump in to help when someone reports an issue. Several are pretty tight with Jose Jr. Laxamama and he is a member of the neighborhood FB group. I think he is the head of LED and responds to requests in the FB group. Strays are another issue that just goes on and on and on.

I was looking at the latest Olongapo stats. 55 new cases and I think 2 or 3 were unvaccinated. Below is the format they put out everyday. Do other cities do this? This has me wondering. What vaccine did each vaccinated person get? At the beginning, most were getting Sinovac. I wonder if a lot of these are Sinovac. New Cases: 55 PHOC-696 is a 49-year-old Filipino female from Barangay East Tapinac. (Symptomatic: cough, body pain, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-2916 is a 48-year-old Filipino female from Barangay East Bajac-Bajac. (Symptomatic: cough; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6017 is a 48-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Barretto. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6018 is a 28-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Barretto. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6019 is a 30-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Barretto. (Symptomatic: clogged nose, sore throat; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6020 is a54-year-old Filipino female from Barangay East Bajac-Bajac. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6021 is a 49-year-old Filipino male from Barangay East Tapinac. (Symptomatic: fever, cough, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6022 is a 52-year-old Filipino male from Barangay East Tapinac. (Symptomatic: colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6023 is a 50-year-old Filipino male from Barangay East Tapinac. (Symptomatic: itchy throat, cough, body pain; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6024 is a 33-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Gordon Heights. (Symptomatic: fever, cough, sore throat, colds; Partially Vaccinated) PHOC-6025 is a 35-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Gordon Heights. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6026 is a 28-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Gordon Heights. (Symptomatic: vomiting, clogged nose, fever, headache, body pain, loss of voice; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6027 is a 46-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Gordon Heights. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6028 is a 49-yaer-old Filipino male from Barangay Gordon Heights.(Symptomatic: fever, back pain, cough, sore throat, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6029 is a 25-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Gordon Heights. (Symptomatic: fever, chills, body pain, cough, anosmia, ageusia; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6030 is a 34-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Gordon Heights. (Symptomatic: cough, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6031 is a 53-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Kalaklan. (Symptomatic: colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6032 is a 69-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Kalaklan. (Symptomatic: pain in upper extremities, difficulty of breathing; Unvaccinated) PHOC-6033 is a 42-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Kalaklan. (Symptomatic: cough, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6034 is a 25-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Kalaklan. (Symptomatic: colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6035 is a 35-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Mabayuan. (Symptomatic: cough, colds, fever; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6036 is a 29-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Mabayuan. (Symptomatic: cough, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6037 is a 25-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Mabayuan. (Symptomatic: colds, itchy throat; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6038 is a 48-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Mabayuan. (Symptomatic: cough, itchy throat; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6039 is a 24-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Mabayuan. (Symptomatic: cough, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6040 is a 23-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Mabayuan. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6041 is a 54-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Mabayuan. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6042 is a 32-year-old Filipino male from Barangay New Cabalan. (Symptomatic: cough, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6043 is a 27-year-old Filipino male from Barangay New Cabalan. (Symptomatic: colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6044 is a 73-year-old Filipino female from Barangay New Cabalan. (Asymptomatic; Unvaccinated) PHOC-6045 is a 56-year-old Filipino male from Barangay New Cabalan. (Symptomatic: diarrhea; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6046 is a 29-year-old Filipino female from Barangay New Cabalan. (Symptomatic: colds, cough; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6047 is a 24-year-old Filipino female from Barangay New Cabalan. (Symptomatic: cough; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6048 is a 30-year-old Filipino female from Barangay New Cabalan. (Symptomatic: cough, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6049 is a 44-year-old Filipino female from Barangay New Kababae. (Symptomatic: colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6050 is a 28-year-old Filipino female from Barangay New Kalalake. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6051 is a 51-year-old Filipino male from Barangay New Kalalake. (Symptomatic: cough; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6052 is a 42-year-old Filipino male from Barangay New Kalalake. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6053 is a 31-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Old Cabalan. (Symptomatic: colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6054 is a 35-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Old Cabalan. (Symptomatic: cough, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6055 is a 30-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Old Cabalan. (Symptomatic: headache, cough, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6056 is a 66-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Old Cabalan. (Symptomatic: cough, vomiting; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6057 is a 30-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Old Cabalan. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6058 is a 29-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Pag-Asa. (Symptomatic: fever, sore throat, upper and lower back pain, dry cough, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6059 is a 64-year-old Filipino male from Barangay Sta. Rita. (Symptomatic: fever, cough, coryza; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6060 is a 43-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Sta. Rita. (Symptomatic: fever, sore throat, clogged nose; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6061 is a 37-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Sta. Rita. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6062 is a 31-year-old Filipino female from Barangay Sta. Rita. (Symptomatic: cough; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6063 is a 28-year-old Filipino male from Barangay West Bajac-Bajac. (Symptomatic: fever, coryza; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6064 is a 31-year-old Filipino female from Barangay West Bajac-Bajac. (Symptomatic: fever, cough; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6065 is a 38-year-old Filipino female from Barangay West Tapinac. (Asymptomatic; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6066 is a 76-year-old Filipino female from Barangay West Tapinac. (Symptomatic; Unvaccinated) PHOC-6067 is a 32-year-old Filipino male from Barangay West Tapinac. (Symptomatic: flank pain, fever; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6068 is a 23-year-old Filipino female from Barangay West Tapinac. (Symptomatic: headache, body pains, fever, mild cough, colds; Fully Vaccinated) PHOC-6069 is a 23-year-old Filipino female from Barangay West Tapinac. (Symptomatic: cough, colds, sore throat; Fully Vaccinated)

Follow up. We found out that Olongapo DepEd has jurisdiction over SBFZ schools, and as in the graphic above, Olongapo is out Jan 17-28, 2 weeks. However, that graphic is inaccurate in that the underlying memo it was created from clearly says that private school have discretion. One of the two private schools we used called a parent council meeting on Saturday to discuss option. At least they sought input. Most on the council (my wife is on it) said they did not want a break. However, in the end it was agreed that they would take a one week break this week. Today is a local holiday so the break is only 4 days. However, our other school is taking the full 2 week break. So we have 2 kids on 1 week and 1 on 2 week break.

I doubt it. These dogs in BGC are mostly very clean and good looking purebreds, and the owners are probably on the higher end of the income scale. Thus, they probably have help to take care of them when needed. We have a new problem with barking dogs. I'm trying to handle it delicately. The house behind us was abandoned for many years. SBMA sometimes gives old houses (under long term lease) to management of a certain level, as a perk, and then the employee uses their own money to fix it up. We were happy when they gave the house behind us to a manager in the building permit department. I have met him a few times and he a nice enough guy. But then a month or two ago he puts two young dogs in his backyard, in one of those big dog cages. Typical Filipino style. Doesn't seem like they every go out of the cage and they bark all day, especially when we go out in the back. They have gotten a bit better in the last week or so, probably getting used to seeing us. I still don't like dogs locked up like that. They do enforce barking and mistreatment here. Just yesterday a woman complained in our FB group and posted a video of a large dog that was barking and not being cared for. LED was there within the day, talking to the owner.

Peru got hit hard and they said something about Chile too. They actually had some small scale damage in California. This is Santa Cruz.

Without his wedding ring! Don't worry, I lost mine a few years ago and lived to tell the tale!

I think he meant in the dog stroller (pram) or on a leash with diapers. Those methods seemed to be allowed at all the malls now. In our local malls we were mainly seeing the diapered small dogs but a few prams are showing up. People can't take their kids to the malls but they can take dogs. In fact, at two malls here they now have indoor dog play places. Pay X pesos and run them around the little obstacles, etc. At Ayala Harbor Point they used to have a similar outdoor area for free, but I'm not sure if it is still there. We spend the New Year in BGC and they are dog crazy there. New Years Eve we went to High Street open air mall and there must have been a hundred dogs there. Lots of large breeds too. There was one main area that seemed to be a dog owner meet and greet area. High Street is really nice if you get a chance to visit BGC. Our BGC AirBnB was in a very nice high rise on the 17th floor. I saw a couple of small breed dogs in the elevators so I assume they are allowed. We saw quite a few of the prams in the malls in BGC too.

Did I watch the same video that you did? I can't follow that fast distorted talking and the graphics are not visible nor do they stay on the screen long enough to read.

More on this and the cost.... https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/10/08/anti-covid-drugs-are-coming-but-at-what-cost/?sh=3b1a812177a1 Anti-Covid Drugs Are Coming, But At What Cost? A debate is raging over the cost of drugs in the United States and around the world. For at least three billion people in India and China, drug costs are determined by the manufacturing price, plus a modest market profit for suppliers and pharmaceutical wholesalers and retailers. Not so in the more “regulated markets” of North America and Europe. One example I have described in detail is the cost of a two-drug, three-month curative therapy for hepatitis C, which is about $80,000 in the United States and $45 (no zeros missing) in Egypt and India. At that cost, the government of Egypt, until recently the country with the highest per capita burden of chronic hepatitis C, eliminated the disease from the entire population in less than a year. Meanwhile many hepatitis C patients in the US continue to suffer from this life-threatening disease as a consequence of the high cost of treatment. Now comes the hope for what might be life-saving treatments for Covid-19: new antiviral drugs. Combined with vaccines, these drugs have the potential to end the pandemic. The hope is that upon exposure, popping a pill for several days will either prevent infection altogether—once vaccine protection has waned—or in those infected, prevent disease. Merck/Ridgeback's molnupiravir is the first of what will be a mini-flood of such drugs over the next several years. The next question is, at what cost? My own investigation of multiple India suppliers puts the manufacturing cost of the raw material for molnupiravir, the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), at about $2.50 dollars a treatment. The total price per treatment in the non-regulated markets will be no more than $20, factoring in the cost of manufacturing the pill, and a modest profit for all the intermediaries between the manufacturer and the patient. That is 35 times less than the Merck/Ridgeback government price, which is about $700. The companies will undoubtedly argue that their price covers the costs of discovery and development—that without extraordinary profit margins of 95% or greater there would be no incentive to develop new drugs. Molnupiravir was discovered at a US university supported by federal research dollars. The plan is for it to be purchased by federal funds, at least initially. MORE FROMFORBES ADVISOR Best Travel Insurance Companies ByAmy DaniseEditor Best Covid-19 Travel Insurance Plans ByAmy DaniseEditor Let’s make a reasonable cost projection. Treating 100 million Americans over the next two or three years with a $700 drug would cost taxpayers $700 billion, but only $2 billion at $20. Which begs the question whether we will we once again price gouge our citizens while depriving them of life-saving medicines to control a pandemic that has ravaged our lives, jobs, and our economy while other countries benefit from our investments. Beyond the action cost of the drugs themselves, one dangerous toll we may be forced to pay for the use of this drug is the creation of more viral variants. Molnupiravir, much like SARS-CoV-2 itself, is a literal shape-shifter, stopping viral replication through a process called lethal mutagenisis. First the drug tricks SARS-CoV-2 into using it to replicate. Then, once the replication process is underway, molnupiravir inserts errors into the virus’ genetic code. Called a tautomer, the drug assumes two forms, one which closely resembles uracil (U) and the other cytosine (C). Once it is recopied, the replicating polymerase develops transition mutations, where a U nucleotide is converted to a C and a C to U. That’s the drug’s second trick. When you have enough of those copying errors you essentially kill the virus, stopping replication, shortening the length of a person’s infection, and limiting onward transmission. The problem is that suboptimal concentrations of the drug could also supercharge the creation of viral variants, introducing a wealth of mutations that aren’t quite enough to stop replication but are enough to drastically change how SARS-CoV-2 operates, either its transmissibility, stability or virulence. While we consider the monetary costs of the drug, we cannot overlook the evolutionary costs of introducing such a powerful mutagen into our Covid-19 environment. The FDA should ensure the safety of the drug before approval, and insist on a full accounting of all data on the drug’s potential to supercharge viral variants. The possibility of a new drug to ward off the most serious symptoms of Covid-19 is welcome news indeed, but we still must question whether the financial cost and the risk of new variants is a price we’re willing to pay.