Thursday, October 31, 2019

Happy Halloween!

Last night I went to bed at 11pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once about 3:15, again at 6:30, finally waking/getting up at 8am.

Teresa informed me that she’s going to Santafe mall tomorrow with a friend so I’ll have the day to myself.  I emailed Chuck and made arrangements to meet for lunch.

I watched the first 45 minutes of the Today show and left the apt.  My plan was to go Parva for coffee but as soon as I turned the corner and started up the hill I remembered it’s not open until 12:30.  I walked to the mall where I had a café con leche at Todo Fresa.  Afterward, since I had my debit card with me I went into Home Center to try using their Falabella ATM.  It showed me a maximum of 500mil on the screen but I asked for 700mil.  It gave me a numbered error message so I cancelled the transaction.  I started over again and this time chose the 500mil option and it told me it’s having “technical problems”. (Falabella ATMs always seem to have technical problems with my debit card.)  I went inside and bought 3 hangers for shorts for 5,900 each.

In the mall I saw a few kids in costume.  As I left the mall I saw a car with what looked like an arm hanging out of the trunk.  Lol.

I walked back to the apt and Teresa had already returned from her gym workout.

We had lunch in the apt.

At 10 minutes to 2pm I walked to the Otra Parte library.  Juan Carlos arrived 5 minutes late.  I gave him my homework, a USCF chess catalog, and my September Chess Life magazine.  I loaned him my Woodpecker Method book and he loaned me a book titled Vladimir Kramnik: The Inside Story of a Chess Genius.  He gave me a couple of chess puzzles to solve, and showed me some tips on playing the Najdorf Sicilian defense.  For homework he asked me to look at some videos on Chess24.com.  There was quite a bit of noise going on around us and he asked me if it bothered me but I told him I can tune it out.  I thought the 2 hours went pretty quickly.

I walked back to the apt and Teresa and I soon left for the clinic in Ciudad de Rio.  She went up to the 1^st floor for her mammography results and I went into Habia Una Vez for coffee.  She came back 20 minutes later and told me her results look good.

We took a taxi back to the apt in heavy traffic.

Somone knocked on our door.  Next year I’ll have to remember to buy candy.

Strange I can’t find Thursday Night Football on Direct TV.

Our second group of kids arrived at 7pm.  Teresa explained to them that we don’t have any sweats.  She then sent me next door to Exito to buy some.  Of course there was a line.  All I could find was a bag of (what do you call them) like pieces of salt water taffy.  While waiting in line I found a box of small chocolate bars so I picked that up instead.  When it was my turn to checkout the checker counted each one of the chocolate bars even though the box said 48 and it looked like it was full.  He then scanned each one and I think there were 47 in the box.  Unbelievable!  Only in Colombia.

I was back at the apt by 7:20.

At 7:30 we got our first group of trick or treaters.  I then noticed that each “candy bar” is actually 2 taped together.  Teresa wanted to cut them to give out only one but I told her it’s still early, let’s wait until later.

We had quite a few trick or treaters but it died out by 8:30 and I’ve got lots of candy bars left.

8,979 steps today.

Joke of the day

Joe grew up in Jamaica, then moved away to attend college and law school.

He decided to come back to Jamaica because he felt he could be a Big Shot at home. He really wanted to impress everyone. So he returned and opened his new law office in New Kingston.

The first day, he saw a man coming up the passageway. He decided to make a big impression on this potential client when he arrived.

As the man came to the door Joe picked up the phone. He motioned the man in, all the while talking.

“No. Absolutely not. You tell those clowns in New York that I won't settle this case for less than one million. Yes, the Appeals Court has agreed to hear that case next week. I'll be handling the primary argument and the other members of my team will provide support. Okay, tell the DA that I'll meet with him next week to discuss the details."

The "conversation" went on for almost five minutes. All the while the man sat patiently as Joe rattled off instructions.

Finally, Joe put down the phone and turned to the man, "I'm sorry for the delay but as you can see, I'm very busy. What can I do for you?"

The man replied, "I'm from Cable & Wireless, the telephone company, I come to hook up your phone."