Thursday, October 11, 2018

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once during the night, woke up at 6am, tried to get back to sleep, gave up and got up at 6:30.

Teresa informed me she’s going to see another apartment this afternoon; I understand this one is just down the street.  She is leaving early for an exercise class at the gym and then going to the finca.

I left the apt at 7:30 and had breakfast at Carbon de Leña.  Back at the apt I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show.  On my way to the metro I could see workers have expanded the outdoor patio behind the library.  I didn’t see Herman at the Envigado station.

I took the metro to Aguacatala station, walked across the street and caught a Circular Sur 303 bus.  I saw a sign that said they are working on lowering the roadway (probably something to do with the Metro Plus).  I got off at Viva Laureles and walked to Mall Laureles right behind it and who did I see sitting there but Dario. He asked me if I brought my chess pieces.  No I didn’t.  I got his cell phone number even though I know he’s very busy with business.  I asked him if he knew if the toilet paper machine in the men’s room took the small 200 peso coins or only the large.  He took me around the corner to a pharmacy and I asked the young clerk for “papel hygienico” (toilet paper).  She pointed to her nose and said “para nariz” (for the nose)?  (She must be thinking of kleenex.)  I pointed to my ass and said “no, para aqui”.  I thought she and another young lady there were going to crack up.  She said no they only have toilet paper rolls. 

I said goodbye to Dario and went downstairs where I bought 2 packages of toilet paper.  I thought I only had 1 coin but I was happy to see I had 2.  It’s always nice to have a backup.

I walked over to John’s office and saw it is now a Sastreria (tailor shop).  Walking down the street I saw Maria (the cute dog walker) walking a couple of dogs.  I confirmed that Pizza Americana wasn’t open – I think they open at 4pm on weekdays.  I got lost, with all the A, B, C streets and diagonals, for about 20 minutes until I finally arrived at the NYC barbershop where Alberto cut my hair for 10,000 pesos.

I walked from there to the Floresta station where I took the metro to the Poblado station and then caught a metro bus up to Parque Poblado.  I stopped at the Cedimed ATM where I made a withdrawal of all 20s.  I walked up the street to La Strada’s Mercado del Rio.  I noticed they have a Piara rib place but I stopped outside at Papa John’s where I had an individual pizza while enjoying their A/C.  I couldn’t get a strong internet connection so I walked to McDonald’s (where it is cold inside) to cool off a bit.  I got internet there long enough to find out that the pollution reading today is 59 P. AQI – Pollution Air Quality Index – which according to Wikipedia is Good leaning towards Excellent.  I soon left and walked to the bus stop outside Oviedo.  While sitting there, an attractive young lady stopped in front of me and asked me something.  I only understood “green and metro and bus” and while trying to figure out how to respond a middle aged woman stepped between us and answered.  I only understood “no and metro and bus”.  When the woman left I apologized to the young lady because I speak poor Spanish and understand even less.  She laughed and then said she understands nothing of my language.  At that moment a green Metro bus pulled up and she headed towards it.  It looked like she got a butt enlargement but whoever she had it done with “she chose wisely”.

A few minutes later my Sabaneta bus arrived and I took it back to Envigado.  I bought a couple bags of milk before returning to the apt.

At 4:45pm I laid down for a short nap.

At 5pm Teresa called me – she’s still in Caldas so I guess we won’t be going to the 6:20 movie tonight.

Right after, Jose Cruz called.  I guess I accidentally made a pocket call to him earlier.  He informed me that SS is giving us a 2.8% raise next year and we made tentative plans to meet next Tuesday.

Medellin Guru had a review on the new Viva Envigado mall.  I learned: 1) Envigado has a population of over 230,000; 2) the mall cost the equivalent of 217 million dollars; 3) there are 2.8 million square feet; 4) on opening day the mall was 85% occupied; 5) the 4^th floor will have a sand volleyball court, 5 soccer fields, a climbing wall, a space for joggers, and the SmartFit gym; 6) there is an office tower with office space; 7) the children’s play area is called Happy City; 8) fast food places include Al Carbón, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Frisby, KFC, Presto, Mis Carnes, Montolivo, Papa John’s, Qbano, Sarku Japan, Sr. Wok and Subway; 9) Restaurants include Chef Burger, Crepes & Waffles, El Rancherito, Federal Rib, Il Forno, Parmessano, and Sport Wings; 10) There are 2 Juan Valdez cafes and a Starbucks; 11) It is open Mon-Sat 10am-9pm, Sunday & holidays 11am-8pm; 12) Viva Envigado is reportedly the largest mall in Colombia.

Teresa came back about 6:30 and told me to get dressed because we’re going to see the other apartment.  We met the owner, Martha, outside and she took us to the apartment.  (She spent 30 years in Pennsyslvania so she spoke English which definitely came in handy.)  I like the location, I like the modernness of the building and the apartment, but the kitchen, dining room and living room areas are very small.  She’s renting it for 1,600,000 pesos.  After we saw it we invited her to join us to go to Antica Pizza.  She joined us and for the first time we tried their pasta which is also very good.  The restaurant had the US vs Colombia soccer game on which Colombia won 4-2.  For the first time we walked back to the apt – about 10 blocks.

I asked Teresa which apartment she likes best and she said the first one but I understand she’s going to talk to the agency tomorrow about seeing another.

Laura said she talked to the family near Seattle and she loves the kids but she’s afraid they live too far from a large city, meaning Seattle.  She believes both families are looking for an au pair to start next January.  Tomorrow she will talk to the family near San Diego.

Joke of the day

An atheist was walking through the woods.
“What majestic trees!  What powerful rivers!  What beautiful animals!”  He said to himself!
As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.  He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him.  He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder & saw that the bear was closing in on him.  He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer.  He tripped and fell to the ground.  He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.
At that instant the Atheist cried out, “Oh my God!”
Time Stopped.  The bear froze.  The forest was silent.  As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky.
“You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don’t exist and even credit creation to some cosmic accident.  Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament?  Am I to count you as a believer?”
The atheist looked directly into the light, “It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian?”
“Very Well,” said the voice.

The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head & said: “Lord bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen.”