Friday, July 12, 2019

Last night I went to bed at 10:45, fell asleep quickly, got up twice during the night, waking at 6:20 and getting up at 6:45.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show and left for the gym.

I talked to Marcus a bit.  He needs to renew his passport and Chuck recommended his agency USA Tax and the accountant said it would cost 630mil for them to renew it for him.  I’m going to need that service also in about 3 years.  Marcus mentioned that his neighbor is an orthopedic surgeon and I asked for his contact info as I’ll probably need a specialist to evaluate my lower back test results.

I completed all but one of my exercises in 90 minutes.

Back at the apt complex I picked up a free Gente newspaper and learned that the new Otra Parte bookstore will open in August.

I cooled off, took my shower, dressed and left the apt at 12:20.

I met Chuck outside Otra Parte at 12:30 and we took a taxi to Parque Lleras.  He led me a block away to a building named Rose Street.  I’m pretty sure it’s the same building that Laura took me to to talk to someone about becoming an au pair.  We went up to the 6^th floor to USA Tax Company where I met Paula Cruz.  Chuck received his passport with his visa and discussed transferring some cash from the US to Colombia.  I understand he has to provide some more paperwork.  He’s going to Immigration early Monday morning to start his Cedula process but I won’t be going with him as I have gym.  Also, I wouldn’t be allowed inside away as only the person with the appointment can enter.

I asked Paula about how difficult it should be to get a tourist visa for Teresa and she believed it wouldn’t be difficult since she is 60 years old and owns property here.  She gave me a contact for US Visas – Alvaro Betancur; 350-4040 and 315 481 8010.

We went to Pergamino Café for coffee and hung out there awhile.

We caught a taxi on Calle 10A and it was like new and air conditioned.  Wonderful!  It took 25 minutes to get through the Gold Mile.  We got out at Parque Envigado and I tipped the driver 4mil and chuck tipped him 6 mil for the air conditioning.

I said goodbye to Chuck then made a withdrawal from the ATM, paid the epm bill, bought 3 plastic envelopes for Teresa, and bought 2 bottles of L-Arginine for myself.

I caught a bus back to La Buena Mesa, stopped in Exito and bought 2 bags of milk and a container of butter and returned to the apt about 6pm.

Btw, this epm bill was quite a bit higher than previously – 261,311 pesos.  Each item was a little higher than last month but the gas went up from 17,709 to 81,681.  Our only use of gas are hot water and the oven so I don’t understand why it’s so high this month.

I watched Essential Endgames Chapter 4, lessons 4-5 on rook endings.

It started raining lightly about 10:15.

8,636 steps today.

Joke of the day

An elderly man was quite unhappy because he had lost his favorite hat. Rather than purchasing a new one, he decided he would go to church and steal one out of the vestibule. When he got there, an usher intercepted him at the door and took him to a pew where he had to sit and listen to an entire sermon on the Ten Commandments. 

After church, the man met the preacher in the vestibule doorway, shook his hand vigorously and said, "I want to thank you for saving my soul today, preacher. I came to church to steal a hat, but after hearing your sermon on the Ten Commandments, I decided against it." 

"You mean the Commandment, Thou shall not steal, changed your mind?" the preacher asked. 
"No, the one about adultery did," the old man said. "As soon as you said that, I remembered where I left my hat."