Noise and Cure?

[BrettGC]

Just prior to my second holiday AFG in 2003 I was fortunate enough to be sent to Scarborough for pre-deployment testing/training on some new mobile miniaturised and ruggedised collection/analysis gear.  I can attest to how friendly your average "Tyke" or "Yorkie" is.  Myself and two other blokes (I was navy, the other two were army) were sent over and they put us up in a pub one street back from the waterfront with accommodation already paid for and gave us 75GBP a day meal allowance that didn't have to be acquitted - 75 quid went a lot further back then than it does today.  What could possibly go wrong?  3 single Aussies in their very early 30's with more money than they could eat and drink in a day (we tried) living in a pub for four months....  Thankfully the North Yorkshire constabulary are just as friendly as everyone else!  I made some great civilian friends that I'm still in touch with to this day.   That accent can be as hard to understand as a drunken Glaswegian...

[jimeve]

19 minutes ago, BrettGC said:

Just prior to my second holiday AFG in 2003 I was fortunate enough to be sent to Scarborough for pre-deployment testing/training on some new mobile miniaturised and ruggedised collection/analysis gear.  I can attest to how friendly your average "Tyke" or "Yorkie" is.  Myself and two other blokes (I was navy, the other two were army) were sent over and they put us up in a pub one street back from the waterfront with accommodation already paid for and gave us 75GBP a day meal allowance that didn't have to be acquitted - 75 quid went a lot further back then than it does today.  What could possibly go wrong?  3 single Aussies in their very early 30's with more money than they could eat and drink in a day (we tried) living in a pub for four months....  Thankfully the North Yorkshire constabulary are just as friendly as everyone else!  I made some great civilian friends that I'm still in touch with to this day.   That accent can be as hard to understand as a drunken Glaswegian...

Thy knows don't thy lad ecky thump ee bye gum. thy can't beat yorkie pud.

[BrettGC]

25 minutes ago, jimeve said:

Thy knows don't thy lad ecky thump ee bye gum. thy can't beat yorkie pud.

I'd link a Goodies vid but the relevant fight scene would be considered pretty offensive these days - versus the boxer specifically.   Funny as hell but I'm pretty surprised it's still on Youtube. 

Edited Monday at 01:56 AM by BrettGC

[Snowy79]

18 hours ago, graham59 said:

YORKSHIRE  ! 'God's Own Country' ! 

Known for our generosity ! 

I heard copper wire was invented by two Yorkshire men fighting over a penny. 

[JJReyes]

18 minutes ago, Snowy79 said:

I heard copper wire was invented by two Yorkshire men fighting over a penny. 

This is a funny one.  I plan to use it at a gathering.  Simple enough to change the nationality.

[Guy F.]

I too find the locals to be generally friendly. Once in a great while I notice a dour expression brought on by my presence.

 

BUT yesterday I renewed the tags on my motorcycle and was forced to wait at the emissions test place for a very unreasonable amount of time. More than a few people who arrived after me were taken care of first. I was "number 8" and the lady in the front office said they were on number 1 when the wait began but at least 20 people were served before me. Next time I'll look for a different emissions test place.

 

Of course I was prepared, with reading material, a cooling towel and cold water, but it was really annoying.

Edited Monday at 09:53 PM by Guy F.

[hk blues]

6 hours ago, Guy F. said:

I too find the locals to be generally friendly. Once in a great while I notice a dour expression brought on by my presence.

 

BUT yesterday I renewed the tags on my motorcycle and was forced to wait at the emissions test place for a very unreasonable amount of time. More than a few people who arrived after me were taken care of first. I was "number 8" and the lady in the front office said they were on number 1 when the wait began but at least 20 people were served before me. Next time I'll look for a different emissions test place.

 

Of course I was prepared, with reading material, a cooling towel and cold water, but it was really annoying.

Passive resistance they called it in Hong Kong - something you may experience in restaurants etc.  

[Possum]

A neighbor 5 doors up invited wife and kids to a birthday party already underway yesterday. Needless to say we could hear the karaoke. She told them they'd come once the karaoke was finished as she didn't want to damage the girls' hearing which she had measured at 90db from the road in front. The neighbor told me it didn't seem that loud to her and I explained that's because your hearing was damaged from a lifetime of loud karaoke. She laughed and said maybe.

I'm hearing conscious as mine was damaged long ago from explosions from various sources. Years ago we went to the countryside and someone said, "Listen to the crickets." Well, I hear crickets 24/7

[Tommy T.]

41 minutes ago, Possum said:

Well, I hear crickets 24/7

I hear high pitched ringing 24/7.... Probably from listening to "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," at full volume too many times when I was 16? That and Led Zeppelin and Doors, Grateful Dead? Then there were a few live concerts which left my ears ringing for at least a day after....but they didn't bleed!

[Guy F.]

From reading this thread it would easy for a newbie to conclude that it's impossible to find a place to live in the Philippines which doesn't involve excessive noise or other infringements of peace. I'm here to testify that it is possible to find peace and comfort here.

I was quite cautious about committing to a real estate deal. The first consideration was adherence to the Three Island Rule, which holds that you should live on a different island than does your wife's family and there should be a third island in between those two. Secondly there is the seemingly ever-present noise. When I first saw the land which was on offer that we ended up buying I knew immediately that I liked it, and it might fulfill all my requirements. These included proper drainage and convenient location relative to hospitals, shopping and recreation as well as absence of contributors to excessive noise. I visited the place several times during different times of day until I became reasonably certain that my initial assessment of the noise factor was accurate.

Of course there are few if any zoning laws in the Philippines, so one can never be certain that a neighbor won't establish a piggery upwind, or that something equally obnoxious might occur. It pays to have good relationships with at least some of the neighbors and the local political leadership, in order to remain well informed concerning local occurrences. That way one might have a chance of avoiding unpleasant developments. We do something nice for the neighborhood occasionally, like buying school supplies for needy kids or contributing to worthwhile local causes. We don't do this solely out of the goodness of our hearts. I look at it like insurance.

It has worked out so far. We've had our Winter Palace here for 10 years and nothing terribly unpleasant has happened. We don't have bars on the windows and are gone for extended periods but the only thefts have been minor incidents involving unauthorized guests of a less than completely reliable caretaker.

Your mileage may vary.

Edited Wednesday at 10:58 PM by Guy F.