Friday, September 6th, 2013

I went to bed about 11:30 last night.  When I stopped watching the opening NFL game the score was Denver Broncos 42, Baltimore Ravens 24.  I see the final was Denver 49, Baltimore 27.  I think Denver has a definite advantage playing at an elevation of 1 mile.  I’ve noticed that I tire easily at this elevation when I exert myself.  I had a rough night - I just seemed to be tossing and turning most of the night.  I finally got up at 9am this morning.

I checked IMDB.com and there aren’t any new movies released in America this week that I want to see, but I did find the following new openings here in Medellin for White House Down:

@ El Tesoro @ 3:45pm - 6:40pm - 9:45pm.

@ Mayorca @ 2:20pm – 4:10pm – 6:50pm – 9:30pm.

@ Puerta del Norte @ 1:55pm – 4:35pm – 7:15pm – 9:55pm.

@ San Nicolas @ 4:35pm – 7:15pm – 9:55pm.

Now I know Puerta del Norte is way north so that’s out.  San Nicolas doesn’t say where it is so that’s out.  El Tesoro we’ve been to before so I would rather not go there again if I have a new place to try.  Mayorca appears to be way south of us maybe in Sabaneta.  I’ll have to check further to see if Mayorca or El Tesoro is best.

Because I got up so late I had coffee but skipped breakfast.  I met Jhon for lunch at Likkes (I bought).  We took the Circular 303 bus and in about 30 minutes got off approximately at Carrera 46 & Calle 50.  We walked west about 4 blocks and south 1 more block and found 4/72 with no problem.  Jhon talked to the lady there who told us we need to go to the main office (Recepcion Principal) in Medellin at Carrera 64C #72-20 (437 72 04).  She told Jhon where we could go to catch a bus that would take us right to the door.  It was starting to rain slightly as we left the downtown office.  We walked about 6 more blocks west and caught the bus right away.  As we exited the bus and were walking to the building I realized it was the same location Reina had taken me to get my umbrella.  We went through basically the same procedure but had to wait about 15 minutes for the other office to reopen at 2pm so we went back outside and Jhon bought me one of the little Colombian coffees called Tinto.  You see Colombians all around town carrying these little cups of coffee which are smaller than a Dunkin Donuts small coffee.  After the office reopened we were told that we had to call Linea Nacional at 01-800-011 1270 in Bogota for more information.  We tried, unsuccessfully, to call them while we were still at the 4/72 office.  I’m thinking I’m probably going to have to use one of the local Mail Forwarding Services like:

John Meyer: There's a Mail Boxes Etc. between Parque Lleras and Premium Plaza in Medellin. It costs $13 a month for either 0.5 or 1.0 kilograms of mail a month. You get two Miami addresses, one a PO Box and the other a street address. I've used them for years and never had a problem.

Bogjudge: I use CourierBox. Mail and Packages are delivered to my home in Medellin. I have used this service for 7 years. Cost is about $30 per year plus per pound and import duties – where applicable – per package. I get a Miami telephone number, P.O. Box and a physical address (which is perfect for banking and financial purposes). Go to www.courierbox.com – some of the site is in English.

that can accept my mail when I’m not at home so I don’t continually have this problem.

We took a taxi for 9mil (2 buses for 2 would have cost 8mil total) and were back at my apartment by 3pm.  I grabbed my light jacket (it was getting cool outside with all the rain and it would be dark in a few hours) and we got to the corner store before the Colombia Ecuador game was to start at 3:30.  As I understand it the winner of this game would qualify for the 2014 World Cup competition.  The game was in Barranquilla, Colombia where it had been raining all day.  There was a 90 minute rain delay while they waited for the rain to stop and then somehow dried off the field.  I had a coke, 2 juices and a small package of corn chips during the game.  Bob stopped by during the 1^st half and asked Jhon if he could come to the bar on Avenida 80 to watch the second half as he had a woman he had met last week he wanted help talking too.  I predicted a 0-0 final and Jhon predicted a 1-1 final.  At halftime we both went to the bar and met Margarita.  She’s about 50 years old, not unattractive, is an elementary school teacher, has a 29 year old son and a 24 year old daughter who are both college graduates.  Bob invited her to join him on Sunday for the Atlanta Hawks vs New Orleans Saints game at Patrick’s Irish Pub where and when Beatriz and I will be watching the Chicago Bears vs Cincinnati Bengals game.  BTW, the final score was Colombia 1 – Ecuador 0. 

Dinner was the Pasta of the Day at Alfredo’s which happened to be ravioli.  Bob told me they had juice but it turned out to be only lemonade – yuck – so far.  The total was 6,900 ($3.63).  I took my medicine on time so I hope to get a good night’s sleep tonight.