Apparently the Philippines will be re-opening tomorrow. Of course we are told there are guidelines, but the guidelines might only look good on paper and too complex for the enforcers or the general public to understand and implement. Since I now have a cruise ship alien mutant lifeform sitting on my head I’m most excited for the barbershops to open, but I’m not sure how “30% of the business” can be quantified. Also, my one and only barber for the past five years, Randy, has been ignoring my text messages.

What’s the deal with brain? Why am I so obviously insane? In a perfect situation I let love down the drain!

As such I’ve decided not to hold face to face clinics just yet. I personally find the numbers very alarming, and just for the safety of everyone I would rather continue slowing down. There’s that profound ancient adage about cockroaches–that for every one cockroach you see crawling nefariously on the floor there are thousands in the vicinity that you don’t see, plus millions of eggs. The very idea drives me nuts, but better think of the asymptomatic COVID cases that way. I’ve been getting the sense that recently people, including health care workers, have been getting either braver or more careless. I’d rather remind myself of the insane fear we’ve suffered the first two weeks of the pandemic when the viber groups were exploding and doctors and nurses were dying all over.

Meanwhile real life keeps knocking on the door. My accountant called me up to tell me that I should get the new receipts from her office. I had a set printed before the lockdown and forgot all about it. My Manulife agent reminded me that I’m due another annual premium this month. Sonny said Robinson’s Place Manila is full of people and that shops like Miniso and Uniqlo are open, so we can now buy essentials like We Bare Bears cellphone ring holder. I wonder how the practice of fitting clothes in the mall would change—unless they UV everything that the customer tries on I don’t think it’s prudent to buy clothes just yet.

In my own little corner of kababawan I am so tempted to ask my trust toy addiction enabler Oliver if Filbar’s will be opening soon. I’ve been looking forward to the Funko Pop of Weezer’s front man Rivers Cuomo. I’m a late Weezer fan, only really getting into their fantastic music last year, which was a pretty good year, so Weezer has become the soundtrack of everything good about 2019. I can’t wait to finally get hold of that Funko and scream: Goddamn you half-Japanese girls!

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