About Us
I am an American expat that has been living in the Philippines since February 6th 2008.
I love living in the Philippines. I think it was the best choice I’ve made in a long time.
A Best Seller
This is not paradise, you have to die to get there. I also don’t think it is a life for everyone. If I were rich, would I live here? I’m not sure. I know I would spend some time here. If money were no object then I might live in Greece, Italy, France or who knows where. I might even live in the good old USA. The USA is a wonderful country too.
Do you notice a theme there? I’d be happy in both places with all things being equal.
A lot of unhappy people leave their homeland and think their misery is about what is around them. It can be. Often it is not.
The number one thing that the Philippines does for me is make my dollar go much further. Now if I insisted on living the same way I did in the USA, then that benefit would go away. If you’re strapped for funds, they will go a lot further here. You can easily live here on $2000 a month. Many do it for much less.
The second reason for me are the women. I have found a wonderful woman to call my own. They are not all wonderful but I’ve never been treated this good. She even gets upset if I try to do things myself. She wants to do things for me.
If you’re thinking of moving to the Philippines, this site can help you. You should remember that sometimes I speak in general terms. Often, what applies in one part of the Philippines does not apply to all of the Philippines. If you have questions about a specific region, ask. I may not know but I will answer if I can. Mostly just remember that what you find to be true for me, may not be true for you.
I think my Expat Manual is a really good value for people thinking of a life in the Philippines. Check my eBook here.
If you’d like to contact me use the contact us page.
However, if your post doesn’t need to be private, then please make it public. This site thrives on comments from visitors. Chances are pretty high that I wont respond to messages that could have been left on the site. I get more than I can answer and I need your comments on the website when possible.
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Will be in Cebu in August, and staying at Virgin Beach Resort- total stay of 21 days-will look at Daabantayan and bogo for future retirement place-9 months there and 3 months in Tennessee-all be safe-maybe we will meet in August-Danny
Be sure to look me up when you get here.
What part of Tn. I lived in Memphis for about 20 years before coming here.
Rusty, sounds like you are gonna be one helluva busy boy in August, with all these Kanos descending on you in August. You got room for a tent at your place? Sounds like you’re gonna need it. Maybe Arabian nights kinda tent ? – that would be fun
Yeah Christine, setting one up in my bedroom right now, not for kano but for belly dancers. Know any?
…and where are you gonna put all these Kano visitors coming to see you in July – August?
I already told you where I’m gonna put you. I’ll put the rest of you in Nago Pension House, I think that’s the name, probably not, I can’t say it and usually spell it wrong, that seems to easy.
I’ll put them there but how they pay the bill is up to them.
Belly dancers do get special rates.
OK, I’ll tell them you are footing all the bill. Hey Joe B. and everyone, listen to this, Rusty is paying for your accommodation when you visit him in
Bogo!
Hey, if that works, let me know.
I’m going to open up the thread that spurred this on so you can post it there if you like. Don’t think anyone will see it here.
However, I don’t take sides, don’t know who is write or wrong but it proves anyone can post anything about anyone on the net.
I disagree that the stories can be verified. Most of the writers admitted what they were saying was rumor. Or it was often opinion. That’s okay though, what goes around comes around and we see it coming around here.
If he was actually in the French Foreign Legion, that’s impressive regardless of the position severed, if he went through the training as a solider, and got through it, can’t take that away from him..
My position on all of this is that we all have our vices and things we like that we don’t want the entire world to know about. We all have our strengths and our weaknesses. We also care way too much what others say about us.
I think all of it was better left unsaid.
danny,rusty i live in the knoxville area,i’m really really planing on my next visit sometime in sept.i’ve got a v.a. doctors appointment in knox.aug.30
Rusty,
I just tried to make a comment on the debt ceiling. And was told I had been blacklisted. I know of nothing I have done that would have me black listed. Do you notify people when they are blacklisted?
Thanks
Marc
AKA Gator
Sorry, I don’t know why that happened. You have not been blacklisted. IF you had been you couldn’t have posted this.
I installed a new plugin for the site today to fight spam. I will likely uninstall it now.
I just looked over the comments you’ve left in the past. You’re a valued member of this site.
sorry again. I don’t know why. Perhaps you used a blacklisted word. That is a real problem though. I’m going to uninstall that plugin.
Okay, I got rid of it for now. I may try it again after going through blacklisted words.
If that happens to you or anyone else please take a screenshot. So I will maybe know what is causing it.
Rusty ,
Thanks for your quick reply.
What kind of operating system or other computer wizardry do I need to open
your E-books? When I buy one. Taking into account I am NOT a computer person!!!
Marc
Marc, you probably have everything on you PC that you need. You need adobe acrobat and you almost certainly already have it. But if not, you get it here: http://get.adobe.com/reader/
The eBook comes in compressed format because it is large. This causes zero problems for most. XP came with decompression tools build in. I’m still using it, prefer it.. I think the later versions of Windows have it too. Apple has something too, I don’t know what. You probably already know how to do that. However, if you don’t know how, I’ll teach you before you buy it. I’ve been meaning to write something exactly how that is done but I just never got around to it.
Two problems people have, the most common one is they don’t know where they downloaded it too. That one is frustrating as sometimes they start screaming at me saying they don’t have it but they do.
They later find it. I don’t know if the new Windows operating system is doing that or what. It is frustrating cause I can’t help them find it on their computer. A recent problem was two users using an iPad were unable to download it. to their iPad. One was very unhappy but calmed down after he got home and had no problem. It really bothers me when someone has a problem. Here it is weeks later and it is eating at me because I have been unable to see if it is a problem everyone is having or not. I don’t have an iPad.
Those problems come from my need to protect the downloads. I had to add some security after massive theft of my eBook. If someone runs into a problems with the download there are two things I can do. What I prefer to do is get on Skype and send it to them that way. If you’re coming to the Philippines, you probably need Skype any way. I can also give someone a temporary link that bypasses the security system. Though I’ve never had anyone need to do that. With Skype, I can also tell them where to look for the download. I think Skype still downloads to a specific folder. Skype also provides a link within the program to where the document is. Out of hundreds, I’ve only had one person that gave up. One other person had to get their techy friend to help them. It is unlikely you will have a problem but if you do, I will do my best to help you with it and if you get on Skype helping makes it easy.
I sell a lot of these, hundreds and it has been selling a LOT in the last couple of months. I’ve had fewer than 10 refunds and most, if not all (except for one), intended to refund when they bought it. I had five sales that were fraudulent,stolen credit cards. All out of Venezuela that included more than half the refunds, I never figured out why they needed to do it five times.
That was back in January. One person refunded because after reading it they learned they didn’t want to come to the Philippines. I’m sorry but that means the book was of value to her. I refunded it. I had one guy that bought it and after 10 minutes said he wasn’t happy, he was out of Russia. I knew he’d refund as soon as I saw that. He purchased through Paypal and filed a dispute. He has refunded so much that PayPal closed his dispute immediately. I refunded anyway. I offer a refund and I honor what I say even to a thief. One cannot possibly know if they are happy or not within 10 minutes. He is probably selling it now. One guy bought two copies, immediately did a charge back on one, within five minutes then asked for a refund on the other. Another bought it through a proxy and then refunded saying it contained nothing he couldn’t find on the web. That one bothered me, I wish he had just refunded rather than lie to me. Since it contains personal stories, I know you can’t find it on the web. These kinds of things are just part of offering a product online. But that he felt th e need to use a virtual private server told me he was going to do that from the start. I know what he was using because it is the same one I use to get passed the blocked content issue one will find while in the Philippines These bogus refunds will happen. The point I’m making is that if you buy it and have a problem, you’ll get your money back. It kills me to loose a sale. Only one person couldn’t get it open. I suspect it was on his computer and just didn’t know where it was but if he can’t use it, I don’t want him to pay for it.
I’ve had people that have spent a lot of time here and tell me they don’t agree with everything I say but still found it very useful. I wouldn’t expect anyone to agree with everything I say. Some of it is opinion. I’ve never seen two opinions totally in agreement. I think it is clear where there is opinion and where what I’m speaking of is factual. It is also how I see the Philippines. One could probably see it as less positive than what I write here. Because I want people to know what they are getting into. I see the Philippines in a positive way but not everyone does. I think sometimes those people have been reading how wonderful the Philippines is, that is heaven on earth. The Philippines is not heaven on earth. There are problems here. I think coming to the Philippines expecting it to be paradise is the number one reason people become disillusioned with it. I think the book does a good job of helping people get their mindset right and for most it helps protect them from scams. I’ve had more than one man tell me it opened their eyes to the Filipina they have been talking to online.
The story of the Scamming Filipina Busted is an example. He had already sent her close to $400. After reading my book he became concerned, did some digging and found she was scamming him.
I’m getting ready, as soon as I can find the energy to start volume two. Last month was probably the first month since I released it that I didn’t add more to it. I was pretty busy last month. I don’t think the updates will continue to come once per month But they will come. Both volumes will be included for one price. The price will be going up. I really believe it is way under prices now. On this site, it is still only $27. Books for $27 are usually less than 50 pages. I’m going to raise the price as soon as I make changes to the webpage. That will happen any day, maybe even today but I’ve been saying that to myself for two weeks. LOL
I don’t really like tedious work and it is tedious work and I’ve bee very busy.
Rusty,
You made a comment about belly dancers! Well you can’t have her. But when we come over there if Jessie is interested Jaye can give her some lessons! And she is good. And she don’t look to bad for being 56 either.
How do I post a picture of her?
Marc
At the moment there is not a way for visitors to post pictures.
Okay signing Jessie up for belly dancing.
Rusty,
You mentioned somewhere that Jesse liked to play Farm Ville.So does Jaye. Ask Jesse to look up Umm Aziza Jamila.I am sure they can have some fum !
Marc
ok, she will see this she reads but trying to get her to join in is impossible.