Saturday, December 7, 2013

Saturday, December 7th, 2013



Last night I left the apartment about 6:45, caught a Circular 302 bus to Monterrey C.C., walked up Calle 10 and was at Patrick’s Irish Sports Pub at 7:45.  (On my way up Calle 10 I saw a man selling boxes of large colored boxed candles; more about that later.)  The only problem was that Patrick wasn’t there and he’s the only one who knows how to access ESPN2 using his Slingbox.

Thankfully, I brought my Nook with me so I did a little more reading while I had an Irish Stew (yummy!) and a Coke.  In order to more readily assure being able to sleep tonight I only had one.

Patrick finally arrived at 8:45 and within 5 minutes had the game on.  It was early in the 2nd quarter and my NIU Huskies were losing 17-7.  I was NOT pleased to see NIU’s coach attempt a 56-yard field goal with 2:30 remaining in the first half.  Of course we missed it, giving Bowling Green excellent field position and they marched down the field for another touchdown.  NIU was down at the half 31-13. 

Throughout the game, every 15-30 minutes or so, the screen would freeze and Patrick would have to go in the back and do a reconnect.  One of those times I noticed it appeared he was connecting to Front Row Sports.  (For one of the upcoming NFL games I think I’ll check out their website.)
The Huskies ended up losing 47-27.  

The total for my food & drink was 20,900 and I left a 5mil tip because I sat there for so long and Patrick had to reconnect the TV so often.

I took a taxi back to the apartment and the total came to just under 14mil.
I went to bed at 12:30am, got up once at 4:15 and had a drink of water, went back to bed and woke/got up at 8:15.  I think these earplugs are making a big (positive) difference in my sleep.

Today is the 72nd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  Not many veterans of WWII still alive today but I have an uncle who is hanging in there still enjoying fishing with one of his sons.

I walked down to Avenida 80 but the lady wasn’t there selling orange juice.  I bought a banana and then had a cup of coffee at the Tinto store.  Gonzolo gave me back my laundry and I gave him 20mil for Beatriz.  I looked in the bag of shirts and they are nicely folded and pressed.  They look perfect.  Bob showed up and was going to give me some information about someone else that does laundry but I don’t think I’ll need that now.  After a few minutes, as Bob was leaving he commented that both his ladies were killing him.  I asked him “sexually or financially?” and he said “mentally, but not spiritually”.  I said “that’s because you live across the street from a church”.  So, obviously he has 2 girlfriends now.  I wonder if Patricia knows that.  I'm not going to be the one to tell her otherwise!

When I got back to the apartment I put the shirts on hangars (collars look perfect) and checked the other items.  The only negative thing is the bath towels don’t appear as fluffy as when I used the laundry – these look like they were line dried instead of machine dried.

I’m looking at a pretty little bird sitting on a telephone wire outside my apartment.  It’s yellow with a greenish tinge – sort of a lime green.
At noon I had a FrisBurrito and medium Pepsi at Frisby for 9,900 pesos ($5.21) and my digestive system seems to be handling it ok.  Augusto stopped by and we agreed to try to meet for chess on Wednesday or Friday morning.  

I’m in a quandary about next Monday’s Chicago Bears game against the Dallas Cowboys.  It’s a 7:40 start (CST) which means it’s an 8:40 start here.  The game is on ESPN so all my usual sources should be able to show the game.  If I go to Wing Zone (for the first time to see a game) I can use my coupon to get 10 chicken wings, fries and a Coke for 13,900 pesos ($7.32) but I’ll probably have to leave at 10pm (only 1:20 into the game).  If I go to Sport Wings I can probably stay until about 10:45 (2:05 into the game).  If I go to Patrick’s in Parque Lleras I can probably stay until the end of the game but then I have to pay something like 14mil to take a taxi back home.
1:20 into the game should be just before halftime.
2:05 into the game should be early in the 3rd quarter so there isn’t a big advantage to Sport Wings over Wing Zone with this timing.
I think I might just try Wing Zone and see when they kick me out.

I picked up the latest issue of Gente newspaper and I know everyone will be relieved to know that Colombia also sells fruitcakes.  (The theory being there is only one fruitcake in the whole world; it just keeps getting passed from person to person.  Lol.)  They call it Cascabel and its 17mil ($8.95) somewhere at Santafe CC.

More about today’s date; the following information is from Medellin Living by David Lee:
December 7 & 8
Immaculate Conception: …celebrating the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception in December may be the most interesting Catholic holiday to observe in Medellín.
On the nights of December 7 and 8, paisas light colored candles on the sidewalks, outside their homes, bars, and businesses.  People can also be seen sitting and chatting outside their homes with friends and family.  Combined with the Christmas lights, it’s a very picturesque couple of nights.

I finally tried on my Chicago Bears t-shirt and it does fit – as long as it doesn’t shrink any and I don’t get any bigger.  Lol.  It says “2006 NFC Conference Champions – One Game, One Dream” and it has a Reebok label.

For dinner I had a Chef’s Wrap and small strawberry shake at Burger King in Viva mall for 14,300 (with coupon).  For dessert I had a soft serve ice cream cone dipped in peanuts and chocolate from Mimo’s for 3mil.  I sat outside Exito reading my Nook book.  At one point Santa Claus came by.  All he says here is “Ho, ho, ho, feliz navidad” and he does overact the strutting a bit but at one point he came over, sat next to me and put his arm around me.  I think I may have scared him off when I said “Merry Christmas Santa” but he was cool about it.  Lol.  

I left about 8:15 and on the side streets people were outside with lit candles: in paper bags, in cardboard boxes, stuck to pieces of wood, etc.  A lot of neighbors were chatting with music in the background.  It definitely lent a festive air to things.

Using wikipedia.org, I learned that Mail Boxes Etc. in the US were purchased by UPS and were renamed The UPS Store.

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