Sunday, October 7, 2018

Last night I went to bed at 11:15, fell asleep quickly, got up about 2am and again at 4:15.  About 5am a bird in a tree outside our window started his call, more of an “ooh hoo” like an owl than a chirp.  He kept that up for about 15 minutes.  At 5:45 Teresa tells me, without even looking at the watch I keep between our pillows, that I have to get up at 6:30.   I finally gave up and got up at 6am.

After a quick shower, a breakfast of Cheerios, and dressed in a t-shirt and jeans I left the apt at 6:55am.  (Being up this early is ridiculious; I’m supposed to be retired, sleeping in, etc. etc.)

Down the hill the little park is now open.  It has about 5 circular connected walkways with lots of small plantings beside them.

Today the metro and the Metro Plus were not congested probably because I could see lots of people in the streets riding bicycles.

I arrived at the tournament site at 7:45 and Jose was already there.

Jose has 2 points and I have 3.  Today my goal is to earn 1 more point to finish with 4 and to finish ahead of Jose.

My first game I had the Black pieces against Hugo Restrepo, rated 1701.  He is a 60 year old man that barely gets around using a walker.  His hand also seemed arthritic as I shook it to start the round.  Again I got to play the Sicilian defense and late in the middle game he threatened to mate me.  I had to sacrifice a rook for his bishop and a pawn to try to continuously check his king.  I was pretty successful but at one point I followed the wrong plan and I lost.

It was 10:15 with the next match at 1pm but Jose wanted to stay and have coffee and something light later.

I left at 10:30, walked across the street to the Metro Plus station which I took the Industriales station then walked the 4 blocks or so to Mercado del Rio arriving at 11am.

I wanted to have the chicken pasta at Carbon y Pasta but it wasn’t going to open until noon.  Same with most of the other restaurants; after all it is Sunday.

In one of the corners of the court I found Al Alma which serves mainly coffee and pastries but they have a breakfast menu and I had a vegetable tortilla and mango juice for 22,300.

I left there at noon and was back at the university by 12:40.

Jose was talking to a woman in Spanish.  She switched to English at one point and mentioned some Medellin chess clubs that we’ll have to check out: Junin, Las Peones about 1 block from Parque Berrio, and Parque San Ignacio.

My last game was against Horacio Olaya an 11-year old boy with a rating of 1480.  I had the White pieces and was again able to play the Kings Indian Attack.

Early in the game I made a move that I thought earned me a piece but he made an unexpected move and checked my king and instead he was up a piece.  Drat!

I just tried to make problems for him and at one point I threatened making an exchange and getting my piece back and he had to move his king, giving up the right to be able to castle.  His queen was also out in the middle of the board and I managed to attack both his king and queen several times with my minor pieces.  On his 18^th move I threated his queen and thought I was sure to get a piece back and he moved his queen back but this blocked the only escape square for his king and on the next move I mated him with my knight.  It was a rare 45 minute game and my tournament was over with 4 points out of a possible 7.  One habit this kid had was slapping down his pieces on every move.  It’s customary to offer your hand to resign and he didn’t do that he just pointed to each square that I had covered by my pieces and looked at me.  I wasn’t going to offer my hand because that could appear that I was resigning.  Finally he got it and offered his hand and we shook hands.

Jose was losing his game and I soon said goodbye reminding him that we WON’T be playing chess this Tuesday.  (I need a little break from playing chess plus I need to enter all my games into my computer database and analyze them.)

The Metro Plus was full but I got a seat.  The Metro wasn’t busy but all the seats were taken.  On my way I had the thought that maybe I might qualify with 4 points for some type of Senior prize.  (It’s more difficult for me because here they consider anyone over 50 to be a senior so there’s more competition.)

At Poblado station I sat in a Metro bus for about 10 minutes with the body heat before it started moving.

I got off at Parque Poblado and on my way to the Cedimed ATM I remembered that the clinic is closed on Sundays.

I walked up to McDonald’s and just as I was approaching it I felt a few light raindrops.

Inside I ordered an arequipe frappe for 5,900 pesos.  By the time I got out on their patio it was raining heavily.  I was disappointed to find that even though I could connect to their wifi I couldn’t get internet.

Teresa called at 3:15 to see where I was and she reported heavy rain in Envigado.

Jose called and said that I might have won a Senior prize and he was going to stick around for awhile to see.  He lost his last game.

By 3:30 the rain had stopped and I hustled over to Oviedo where Starbucks always has strong wifi.

I had a medium café mocha blanco and a blueberry muffin for 17,800 pesos and checked the news and sports on my cell phone.

Wow, the Detroit Lions defeated the Green Bay Packers.  That should be great for the Bears.

Just before I left I visited the restroom where I found the door lock didn’t work.  It looked like a screw just needed to be tightened on the catch.  They also had no soap in the dispenser.  I reported this to one of the baristas as I was leaving.

I took a Sabaneta bus back to the apt and got a seat about 4 aisles back from the front.  Later as I was getting up to move to the back of the bus to exit I found Laura sitting across from the exit.  She kept an eye on me the whole way from Oviedo to Envigado without saying a word to me.

Teresa soon went to Home Center while I watched some NFL football.  Unfortunately, the Vikings beat the Eagles.

Teresa came back with turkey sandwiches she bought at the little shop outside Exito.

Teresa informed me that MT didn’t receiver her SS this month.  I told her that the form I sent to the US should have nothing to do with it.  If they don’t receive the form then they will not send her a payment next February.  I recommended MT wait until next week and check with Bancolombia again.

Joke of the day

A young couple decided to get married. As the big day approached, they both grew apprehensive. Each had a problem they had never before shared with anyone, not even each other.
The Groom-to-be, hoping to overcome his fear, decided to ask his father for advice. "Father," he said, "I am deeply concerned about the success of my marriage."
His father replied, "Do you love this girl?"
"Oh yes, very much," he said," but you see, I have very smelly feet, and I'm afraid my fiancé will be put off by them."
"No problem," said dad, "all you have to do is wash your feet as often as possible, and always wear socks, even to bed."  Well, to him this seemed a workable solution.
The bride-to-be, overcoming her fear, decided to discuss her problem with her mom. "Mom," she said, "When I wake up in the morning my breath is truly awful."
"Honey," her mother consoled, "everyone has bad breath in the morning."
"No, you don't understand. My morning breath is so bad, I'm afraid that my fiancé will not want to sleep in the same room with me."
Her mother said simply, "In the morning, get straight out of bed, and head for the kitchen and make breakfast. While the family is busy eating, go to the bathroom and brush your teeth. The key is not to say a word until you’ve brushed your teeth."
"I shouldn't say good morning or anything?" the daughter asked.
"Not a word," her mother affirmed.
"Well, it's certainly worth a try," she thought.
The loving couple were finally married. Not forgetting the advice each had received, he with his perpetual socks and she with her morning silence, they managed quite well. That is, until about six months later. Shortly before dawn one morning, the husband wakes with a start to find that one of his socks had come off. Fearful of the consequences, he frantically searches the bed. This, of course, wakes his bride and without thinking, she asks, "What on earth are you doing?"
"Oh, my god," he replied, "You’ve swallowed my sock!"