Tuesday, September 29, 2015

joke



A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver's license. First, of course, he had to take an eye sight test. The optician showed him a card with the letters

'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.'

'Can you read this?' the optician asked.

'Read it?' the Polish guy replied, 'I know the guy.'

Monday, September 28th, 2015



Happy Birthday to my brother Jim!  He must be 63 today.

I slept well until 6am when I heard a small dog, though far away, barking continuosly.  He finally stopped just before 7am.

Now that I have a thermometer I have a better idea of the temperature in the finca.  At 1pm today it was 75 degrees with a slight cool breeze.  At 3pm it topped out at 80 degrees which was still comfortable for me as long as I’m in the shade and not moving around.

A man named Geraldo stopped by and Teresa got a quote to extend the wall separating the kitchen from the dining room another 3-4 feet all the way to the wall for 1 million pesos.  I understand she also wants to move the sink from the back wall to the newly extended wall for another 1 million pesos.  First we have to buy the materials in Caldas for 500mil.

Just before dark Teresa and I sprayed and destroyed 7 wasp nests around the outside of the finca using the Ortho Hornet & Wasp spray I brought back with me from the States.  At this rate we’re going finish with the bottle in no time.

I took my sleeping pills at 10pm and went to bed.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Sunday, September 27th, 2015



We left the finca at 11:30 and the killer dogs came out and I threw stones at them to keep them away.  Walking past Don Carlos finca we saw two men working on building something at the entrance which looked like supports for an entrance arch.  They had forms almost a foot square into which I assume they would pour cement.

We took a bus into Caldas where I added 50mil to my cell phone and we bought some items at Consumo grocery store.  They didn’t have any hamburger buns so I guess I won’t be having a hamburger for lunch today.
We couldn’t get in touch with Walter so we just took a regular taxi.  He got us up most of the way to the top of the 1st section of the trail.  From there we had to carry the bags – Teresa carried the 3 heaviest and I the remaining light one.

We got past the killer dogs undetected.

I watched the Bears game using Slingbox from Internet Explorer.  It froze a couple times and one of those times I rebooted my PC to get it working again.  The Bears lost 23-0 to the Seattle Seahawks.

I took my sleeping pills at 11:30 and went to bed.

T-shirt of the day: Faith – it doesn’t make things easy, it makes them possible.

Saturday, September 26th, 2015



I barely slept because I was so worried that the alarm wouldn’t work.  It did go off and I got up took my shower, shaved and finished packing.  I finished exactly at 5:15 right on time to wake my son.  He took me to the blue line train.  I saw a sign that said “To O’Hare” and I walked around the corner.  Luckily I questioned a pilot who was walking towards me because I wasn’t even at the right station.  I walked a block in the other direction, he showed me how to purchase my ticket and then I went with him to O’Hare.  I walked into Terminal 2 and then had to catch a people mover to the International Terminal.  I got there right at 6am – 3 hours before my flight.  I checked my suitcase.  I was a little afraid it would be over the weight limit because of all the things I was bringing back with me but it weighed in as 14.7kg (32 pounds) and the limit is 23kg (50 pounds) so I wasn’t even close.

I bought a Reader’s Digest for $3.99 at one of the local gift shops.  (The magazine has changed so much I didn’t really enjoy it.)

We left on time on another Boeing 737-800 that was between 1/3 and ½ full and arrived at Panama City on time at 2:15.

I had another coffee and muffin for $8 and waited for my flight to leave at 4pm.  This was a small jet - a MBE or something - that was again about ½ full.  We had a beautiful view flying over the Aburra valley where Medellin is and I could identify Caldas because of the 2 soccer fields across the street from each other.

When we landed at 5pm (30 minutes early) I walked to the Customs booth and after that I waited a couple minutes for my suitcase.  I noticed my fancy luggage tag got knocked off.  I saw a golden lab walking around sniffing suitcases, probably looking for drugs.  Again I was singled out to have my suitcase scanned.  I had to fill out one of those custom forms and while I was doing that the dog sniffed my leg pretty good.  Maybe he smelled Murray; he may be looking for drugs but he is after all still a dog.  Teresa was waiting for me outside.  I took some pesos out of the ATM and we took a bus to San Diego CC for 18mil.

At San Diego we took a taxi to the top of the hill leading to the finca for 35mil.  From there we carried the suitcase by hand the rest of the way.  Luckily, there was a full moon and the killer dogs didn’t detect us.
It was about 7:30pm by the time we got back.

I gave them their presents.  The three of us shared one of the taffy apples.  Teresa loved them and told she could probably make them in the finca and sell them.

T-shirt of the day: Pilates?  I thought you said pie and lattes.

Friday, September 25th, 2015



Among new US movie releases I would like to see The Intern (7.6).
I went back to the mall and bought a pair of earrings for Laura for $10.  I had lunch (chicken teriyaki) at a chinese restaurant.  I walked back towards the apartment and stopped at Home Depot where I bought an indoor/outdoor thermometer and a set of sturdy drill bits.

I stopped at Dunkin Donuts where I had a coffee and blueberry muffin for $3.71.

I set the alarm on my iPad to 4:30am and went to bed at 11pm.

Thursday, September 24th, 2015




I took a bus to the mall where I asked a man at one of the kiosks if he could repair my old Seiko watch.  He said he thought the coil was broken and repairs would be at least $90.  I stopped in Kohl’s where I bought a pair of earrings for Teresa for $22.

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015



I took my first bus about 8 blocks to the Lincoln Town Center mall.  The bus ride cost $2.50.  The bus seemed new and modern and rode better than the Medellin buses.  I bought for Teresa a bottle of Realities perfume for $55 and Hugo Boss Woman perfume for $65.  I took a bus back past the apartment and walked through Northeastern Illinois University.  I found their library but they didn’t have a magazine that I was looking for.  I walked a few blocks further south where I found a Chicago Public Library.  The only issue of the magazine I was looking for that they had was April’s and what I was looking for wasn’t in that issue.

I walked back north and had breakfast about 1pm at the Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club restaurant.

That night Jim and I went to the Village Crossing theater in Skokie where we saw A Walk in the Woods.  This time it only cost me $15 for the tickets and Jim paid for the popcorn and soda.

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015



This day I walked about 4 blocks to a Home depot where I bought 4 shelf lights, Raid Hornet & Wasp Spray, and had an extra set made of Jim’s apartment keys.

On my way back to the apartment I stopped at KFC where I had a chicken combo for $9.

I walked about 4 more blocks to a Walgreen’s where I bought a bag of Fritos, a folding travel toothbrush for Teresa, a bottle of dental pain relief medicine and 3 caramel apples.

When Jim got home from work he drove me to my daughter’s, Jeannie, condominium in Evanston.  She introduced me to her bulldog/pit bull mix dog named Moose and I gave him a dog biscuit or two.  We walked a few blocks to restaurant Bar Louie’s where it was $1 burger night.  Of course, it’s an extra 75 cents if you want fixings like pickles, lettuce and tomato and 50 cents extra for a slice of cheese.  I had another root beer.  Her boyfriend Tim joined us just as we were finishing eating.

Monday, September 21st, 2015



I went with my son Jim to his office where I was picked up by his mother – my ex-wife - Annette.  She took me to the Department of Motor Vehicles where I had no trouble renewing my drivers license and got the corrective lenses restriction removed.  Now I’m good for another 4 years.  Next we went to a Charles Schwab office but I wasn’t able to open a checking account because of my bankruptcy in 2011.  At Citibank I was able to change my physical address to Teresa’s mother’s apartment in Envigado.  (I decided that was easier than trying to explain that the only address I really have is 6 degrees north of the equator and 75 degrees west of Greenwich England.)  I also changed my mailing address to the USPS address of MBE in Miami.  I also added a $600 maximum daily withdrawal limit from ATMs and withdrew some cash and was surprised to see there was a $3 fee.

She dropped me off near Jim’s office and I walked around the area a bit.  I had a bowl of chili across the street at – Chili’s.  It wasn’t very good compared to what I get in Colombia.

I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts and had an apple friter and a cup of coffee.
I walked back to Jim’s school where Jim introduced me to some of his colleagues.

Back at his apartment we decided to see a movie and he drove to Cinemark in Evanston where we saw Pawn Sacrifice for about $30 including a medium popcorn and soda.

Sunday, September 20th, 2015



Jim drove us to a hot dog place where I had a Chicago Style Hot Dog, fries and a root beer.

Basically I just stayed in the apartment the rest of the day and we watched the Bears game in the afternoon.  They lost 48-23 to the Cardinals.  It’s going to be a long season.

I finished Erik Larson’s 469 page The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness and downloaded Nelson DeMille’s 500 page Plum Island. 

Saturday, September 19th, 2015



I woke up at 10am.  My son Jim has a very nice dog named Murray.  He is a brindled (coloring) Plott Hound that is trained to sit and also play dead when you pretend to shoot him.

My son Jim dropped me off at my brother Jim’s house on the way to his wedding in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

I rode with my brother to The Little Owl restaurant in Geneva, Illinois where we had lunch with two of my cousins – David from Sandwich, Illinois and Jerry who was visiting from Yuma, Arizona.  On our way back we stopped at a Pizza restaurant where we had thin crust pizza and a root beer.  While were were waiting for our food they had peanuts on the tables where you remove the shells yourself and throw them on the floor.

My son picked me up on the way back to his apartment.

Friday, September 18th, 2015



So, right after we got into bed last night Teresa informed me she isn’t going to school with Laura this morning and Laura isn’t going either – she’s coming with us to the airport.

Among today’s new US movie releases I would like to see Everest (7.7), Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (7.2), and especially Pawn Sacrifice (7.4) - another movie about Bobby Fischer.  I just hope they get the chess part right.  Already I see a mistake in the Trailer where they show moves like P-C4 where only c4 (always lower case) is needed.  In fact, at the time when Bobby Fischer played, c4 (algebraic notation) would have been shown in descriptive notation as P-QB4.

I’m finishing up my packing and leaving in a couple of hours for the airport so there’s won’t be any posts over the next week.

We left the finca at 11:30 and Walter was waiting for us just up from the finca.  He put my suitcase in the front seat and we all climbed into the back.  

On our way downtown Teresa suggested we go to San Diego CC instead.  I agreed because it’s about 15 minutes closer to the airport than downtown.  When we go to the mall a guy grabbed my suitcase and put it into a private car.  (I thought we were taking a bus but I think Teresa was worried about being late.)  We got to the airport right at 12:30, 3 hours before my flight.  I paid the driver 60,000 pesos where it would have cost 27,000 had we taken the airport bus.  I opened my suitcase and exchanged my sunglasses for my jacket.  I checked my suitcase without any difficulty and the lady told me to come back at 2pm to start my personal check-in process.

We went upstairs and had lunch – I had the Caesar Salad again, Teresa had something with mushrooms and Laura had some pasta.  With drinks the total came to 68,800 (about $23).  Mine was good but next time I think I’ll try something different.

Back downstairs at 2pm I gave the remainder of my pesos to Teresa and said goodbye to both of them.  They scanned my personal belongings and then Customs verified my passport.  

I still had an hour wait for my flight so I checked out a couple stores.  One had bags of Colombian coffee and I was sorry I didn’t have any money because it would have made a good present for my kids.

The flight was a Boeing 737-700 that left 15 minutes late with only half the seats filled.  As we made our approach to the Panama City airport suddenly the jet picked up speed and started climbing.  When I looked out the left windows I saw nothing due to the heavy cloud cover.  When I looked out the right windows I clearly saw the ground and the sea.  Very interesting experience.  We did a go-around and when we finally landed at 5:30 - 45 minutes later than scheduled.  

I walked around the Tocumen airport looking for the Margaritaville restaurant I visited 3 ½ years ago.  While before the airport was very small, now it was huge – and cold because in some places they had the air conditioning turned up so high.

We were scheduled to leave at 6:45 from Gate 7 and arrive in Chicago at 12:15am Saturday.  I had skipped the offer of a snack in the plane because I wanted to have something like nachos in the restaurant but I couldn’t find it.  I stopped at a small store where I bought a coffee and muffin for $8.  She tried to give me some Panamanian change but I convinced her to give me mostly American change.  The extra local coin I put in their tip jar.

I noticed they changed my gate from 7 to 1 so I decided to find it first.  It was nearby so I sat down in a quiet corner by one of the gates and had my coffee and muffin.  The sky was dark and there was heavy rain.

Then I noticed they changed the boarding and departure times to 8:15 and 9pm so we would be arriving in Chicago at more like 2am.  My problem was I couldn’t get a strong enough wi-fi connection and my emails to my son merely went to the Outbox in my iPad.  We finally boarded at 9:30 and left at 10:05.  This was a larger plane a Boeing 737-800 but it was still only half full.  (If this had been an American Airline plane I think they would have cancelled it and put all of us on another plane tomorrow so it would be full.  What I like about Copa Airlines is they don’t do that and their food is better.)  I tried to sleep on the 5 hour flight but it’s just too noisy for me.   They served us dinner of our choice of pasta or beef with mashed potatoes.  I had the latter and it was a little chewy – I guess we’re still too close to Colombia.  Lol.

We got in at 3am and by the time I got through customs (it only took me 1 minute but there was a long line ahead of me) and I got my bag it was 4am.  I found the pay phones to call my son but it cost 50 cents and I only had 45 cents.  I went upstairs to arrivals and found a lady to give me change for a dollar.  Back downstairs I called my son and 20 minutes later he arrived and I put my suitcase in the back seat.

By the time we got to his apartment and I got to bed it was 5am.  I took my sleeping pills and fell asleep quickly.

T-shirt of the day: I think I’m paranoid.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Thursday, September 17th, 2015



I got up twice during the night finally waking up at 7am and getting up at 7:30.

Last night we were commenting on how cute 3 of the terriers looked all huddled together on the same blanket (Tony had his own).  This morning when it came time to feed the dogs Peter wasn’t around and Teresa was worried he might have followed Laura down to the highway this morning.  Finally, about 20 minutes late, he showed up.

Laura came back at 11:30 with the receipt for paying the Caldas tax.

We left the finca at 12:10 and the killer dogs heard us coming and came out to “greet” us.  At the highway we waited 10 minutes for a bus to El Poblado and then took a taxi to El Tesoro CC for 7mil.  On the way I realized I had forgotten my cell phone.  At Zara Teresa exchanged her jeans for – I don’t know what you call it – a pants dress?  While she was doing that I went downstairs to Carulla where I found an internet store where I printed a few more chess pages.

Teresa said she was hungry so we stopped at O-Cake where we each had a mango & banana juice and we shared what looked to me like a raspberry pastry.  Teresa didn’t like it – said it was too sweet – so I started to finish it when I found a hair in it.  I was willing to just eat around it but Teresa took it back and exchanged it for a chicken empanada which we shared.  While we were there I saw a rare sight – an obese man; there aren’t many here like there are in the US.

We took a taxi to Visitacion CC where Teresa had her hair appointment across the street at Pelequeria Gloria Balbin.  We got there at 3:30 but she didn’t finish until 6:30.  In the meantime I also got a haircut and read from my Nook.  It cost 130mil (about $44) for her haircut/dye job, my haircut, and her manicure and pedicure.

We walked across the street where we shared a Frischuleta at Frisby for 24,400.  I added 20mil to my cell phone and Teresa bought a few empanadas for Laura.

We waited about 15 minutes to catch a taxi to Aguacatala.  It was a new taxi and the driver said it cost $7000 (I’m not sure what exchange rate that’s based on).  At Aguacatala we waited about 10 minutes for a bus back to the finca.

There was only a sliver of a moon to guide us because I didn’t have my cell phone flashlight.  At least it was cool so I didn’t sweat going up and down the hill.  We got past the killer dogs undetected and arrived back at the finca at 8:30.

Teresa got my shirts together and I’ll finish packing tomorrow right after my shower.  She has to go to school with Laura early tomorrow but she should be back in time for us to leave for Medellin followed by the airport.  I had her call Walter and I understand he’ll pick us up at the top of the hill at 10:30.  My COPA flight is scheduled to leave at 3:30 so that should give us plenty of time to get there, check my bags, and then relax a little before the flight.

I set the alarm on my cell phone for 4am for Teresa and 8am for me.

I took my sleeping pills at 11pm and went to bed.

T-shirt of the day: More issues than Vogue.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Joke



A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house. She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, 'Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!'

The husband said, 'Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?'

'Doesn't matter,' she said. 'Just get out.'

Wednesday, September 16th, 2015



I fell asleep quickly and didn’t wake up until 5:30.  At 6am I heard Duelin’ Doggies – a barking contest between one or more terriers and a neighborhood dog.  I gave up at 6:30 and got up.

While waiting for the Today show to start at 9am I played a little Super Mario Bros. and finally got past the Choco Ghost House level.  Yay!  It was pretty easy once I figured out the trick.

I typed my biopsy results into google translate but it was too technical to understand what it means.  I’ll find out more in a few weeks when I meet with my Urologist.

I’ve been looking on Facebook for an old chess friend from Sears, Ruben Reyes.  Today I finally got the inspiration to look for his friend Tom Miller and right away I found a comment from Ruben to one of his pictures.  I sent a friend request to each of them.

It started raining about 1pm and stopped an hour and a half later.

Laura showed me her laptop power cord and the plug is coming apart from the cord.  I told her she always has to remove it from the wall by holding the plug not the cord.  It came with a 6 month warranty that expires in about 3 weeks but I don’t know if negligence by a 17-year old is covered.

Teresa asked me to pack my suitcase but I told her it’s too early.  It won’t take me long to pack on Friday morning.

I finished Bill Bryson’s 306 page A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail and downloaded Erik Larson’s 469 page Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness.  I really enjoyed the book about the Appalachian Trail.  It really gave me the itch to do it myself; although I know I’m too old and out of shape for something like that.  I’m looking forward to seeing the movie starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte which opened 2 weeks ago.

I took my sleeping pills at 11pm and went to bed.

T-shirt of the day: See the beauty around you.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Tuesday, September 15th, 2015



I fell asleep quickly and didn’t wake up until 8am, finally getting up at 8:30.  Nice!

At 10am Teresa was washing the patio when she called me outside to show me an adult sized frog.  I caught it easily and put it in the patio garden.

We left the finca at 12:10, got past the killer dogs undetected, and were on a bus after a 10 minute wait.  We got off at Mayorca CC, where I withdrew a few pesos and then we had lunch at Frisby.  We each had the Frischuleta and a soda for 38,800 (less than $13 total).

We stopped at a pharmacy where Teresa bought some skin cream for 64,161.  We stopped a store similar to Bed, Bath & Beyond and Teresa picked out 4 small stuffed pillows and a sachet for 43mil.  We stopped in a Velez (leather specialties) store where Teresa looked for a pair of sandals.  There were signs around that said “up to 50% discount” but it wasn’t until after she found a pair she liked that she asked and found out the discount for these must have been something less than 50%, she said they were too expensive, and we left.

We took a taxi to the Itagui ProLab laboratory at Calle 45 #49-02 where we picked up my prostate biopsy results.  I tried to read them but the only word I understood was “normal”.  That doesn’t mean that somewhere else there might be the word “abnormal” only I wouldn’t understand it.

We walked across the street where I printed out a number of pages that I had on my flashdrive about a chess opening.  A young lady there helped me print them in groups (instead of having to request each individual page) and I paid 13mil.  (When I got back to the finca I found I had missed 3 pages.)
We took a taxi to Exito where I bought 4 pairs of underwear and 3 pairs of socks for 62mil.  Teresa picked up some food and we took a taxi to the highway.  We were on an express bus after only a 5 minute wait and we had no problem finding seats.

Coming up the hill I saw Malu, whistled for her, she came running, she sat as soon as I said the word, and I rewarded her with a dog biscuit.  We got past the killer dogs undetected and were back at the finca by 5pm.

I watched 1958’s Vertigo (8.4) starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak.

I took my sleeping pills at 10:45 and went to bed.

T-shirt of the day: We’re setting fire to our insides.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Joke



One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very sexy nightie. 'Tie me up,' she purred, 'and you can do anything you want.'

So he tied her up and went golfing.

Monday, September 14th, 2015



I got up 3 times during the night finally waking/getting up at 8:40am.

I removed my laptop from my chess table and spent the day going over my games from the Paul Keres chess tournaments and reading an old Chess Life magazine.  

Sometime in the afternoon Teresa reported that it’s 39 degrees (centigrade/celsius) in Medellin today.  I converted that to Fahrenheit and that’s 102 degrees.  No wonder I often feel like I’m going to melt when I move around under that sun.

I found the phone number for Notaria 31 in Laureles.  Teresa called them and I understood Martha, the lady who kept our records, won’t be available until Thursday.  She called Juan, the interpreter, but he can’t make it on Thursday so I guess we’ll take care of all that in a couple weeks upon my return.

About 6pm Teresa wanted to play dominoes.  I won the first 6 games and she accused me of not mixing the tiles properly before each game.  I had her do it and then she started to win as often as I.  We played for about 1mil a game and I paid her in Colombian pesos and she paid me in US change (50 cents each) that I can use for buses there.

I watched 1956’s The Man who knew too Much (7.5) starring Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day.

Tomorrow we are going to Itagui to see if my prostate biopsy results are ready.

I took my sleeping pills at 11:15 and went to bed.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Joke



After a long night of making love, the guy notices a photo of another man, on the woman's nightstand by the bed.

He begins to worry.  'Is this your husband?' he nervously asks.

'No, silly,' she replies, snuggling up to him.

'Your boyfriend, then?' he continues.

'No, not at all,' she says, nibbling away at his ear.

'Is it your dad or your brother?' he inquires, hoping to be reassured.

'No, no, no! You are so hot when you're jealous!' she answers.

'Well, who in the hell is he, then?' he demands. 

She whispers in his ear 'That's me before the surgery.' ...

Sunday, September 13th, 2015



I got up once during the night, or was it twice, finally waking/getting up at 9:15.

Today I transferred everything into my large suitcase that was in my slightly smaller suitcase and brought it downstairs for my trip.  Only 5 more days before I leave; most likely I won’t be posting anything from Friday, September 18th to Saturday September 26th while I’m gone.

At 11am I successfully logged into Slingbox, via Mozilla Firefox, to watch my noon Chicago Bears game.  So today I should be able to watch the game on my large screen TV instead of my little iPad.

Starting at 11:45 I started getting the message “The Slingbox or internet may be unreachable. Try connecting again.”  When I did, I received “Your Slingbox has been disconnected due to a poor internet connection.  Try connecting again.”

I gave up and watched the game on my iPad.  Only problem was the occasional buffering but each time it only lasted a couple seconds.

The Bears managed to keep Aaron Rodgers off the field most of the time and were ahead 13-10 at halftime.

With 2 minutes left in the game I went to Internet Explorer and tried to log into Slingbox.  I received the message “My Slingbox is being used by someone else.  Would you like to disconnect them?”  I replied yes, and after receiving the same messages as earlier a couple times I did get in.  I was able to watch the last couple minutes on the large screen but the Green Bay Packers beat my Chicago Bears 31-23.

Teresa and I finished watching Limitless, we watched Wildlike (7.1), and then we started watching The Bag Man (5.3). 

I took my sleeping pills at 11pm and went to bed.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Saturday, September 12th, 2015



I got up 3 times during the night.  At 9:10 I heard what sounded like the wheels of a wooden cart clunking down the path and the dogs were going crazy..  I looked out and Don Carlos had two large (6’ long) wood beams lashed to his horse.  They reminded me of undersized dugout canoes.  (I remember when we visited the fincas up the mountain  that Teresa saw a couple planters made of wood so I’m sure she asked Don Carlos to find a couple for her.)  He spent over an hour further hollowing one of them out with nothing but an axe.  He left and came back with a hammer and cold chisel that he used to shape it further over the next hour.  He shaped the bottom so it was more or less flat and then put it on the ledge of the porch, right under a large wasp’s nest.  I’m going to bring some wasp bomb back from the US so we can get rid of them.

Teresa found a piece of paper with two numbers written on it and she asked me what it was.  I told her it wasn’t mine.  She finally remembered what it was for and told me to keep the boxes from my sleeping pills.  I didn’t understand why until Laura wrote into the google translator that we can get free refills if we return the boxes.  I don’t understand why they would do that but I’ll save them.

Laura left at 11:45 for her English class.

Don Carlos finished the second planter at 12:30 and Teresa gave him 40mil (about $13) for his efforts.

I finished Jeffrey Archer’s 512 page Kane and Abel and downloaded Bill Bryson’s 306 page A Walk in the Woods.

I watched 1955’s The Trouble with Harry (7.2) starring John Forsythe and Shirley MacLaine, also Edmund Gwenn and Jerry Mathers (remember The Beaver?)  If you do, then you’re almost as old as I am.

I took my sleeping pills at 11pm and went to bed.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Joke



Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.

When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with which to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Her natural beauty took his breath away. 'I may look like just an
ordinary man,' he said to her, 'but in just a few years, my father will die, and I'll inherit 20 million dollars.'
 
Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are so much better at estate planning than men.

Friday, September 11th, 2015



Today is the 14th anniversary of 9/11.

I got up once at 3am (it had stopped raining), again at 6am, finally waking/getting up at 8:30.

The ground was very wet outside and it was still drizzling slightly and it was very cool.  It stopped by 10am.

I checked the new US movie releases and there isn’t anything I want to see.  Locally there isn’t anything I want to see.

At noon it started raining again.

We were going to go to Laureles today but we decided to wait until Monday because today is so cool and rainy.

The peso is dropping back to near 3,000 COP to the dollar.

I took a nap from 1:40 to 2:30.  Teresa joined me until 2pm when Juan Felipe Sierra, the translator, called.  I understand Tuesday is better for him than Monday.

After emailing Chess Magnet School I found that I can reset my history so I can start over at the beginning.

I watched 1954’s Rear Window (8.5) starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, also including Thelma Ritter and Raymond Burr.  Very good movie!
I watched 1955’s To Catch a Thief (7.5) starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.  Nothing special.

I took my sleeping pills at 11pm and went to bed.

T-shirt of the day: Romeo made me do it.