Thursday, January 2, 2020

Last night I took half a Zopiclona and went to bed at 10:45.  I got up at 3:30 and 45 minutes later, still awake, I got up and took another half of a Zopiclona.  It still seemed to take a while to fall asleep, I got up again at 6:30 to pee, finally waking/getting up at 6:45.

My Social Security payment arrived today; looks like us retirees got about a 1.6% Cost of Living increase.

I left the apt at 8:15 and walked to downtown Envigado to Carbon de Leña where I had my usual calentado and café con leche for 9,200.

I went across the street to the paper store where I printed some chess notes and picked up 2 property rental copies – Contrato de Arrendamiento – for Teresa to use for the finca rental.  I also bought an 8GB thumbdrive for 30mil as a backup in case I lose my 16GB Sandisk memory drive or it stops working.

On my way to Bancolombia I noticed the nextdoor Citibank/ScotiaBank has closed.  In the bank I took my number and walked into the waiting room.  I found the last available seat but I figured it might be a short wait.  As soon as my butt hit the seat my number flashed on the screen and I actually bounced up out of my seat.  At the window I paid my 3 usual bills and got about 150mil in cash.

I looked in the nearby Claro office for the guy who speaks English but struck out again.

At Todo Drogas I picked up my usual monthly medicines plus 30 50mg tablets of Trazadone that Glenn recommended for me.  It’s normally used for treating depression but he says it also causes drowsiness that might help keep me asleep.  I’ll give it a try.  I was disappointed to find the salesman charged my purchase in dollars instead of pesos which cost me a 3.5% extra fee.  I’ll try to avoid him in the future.

I took a bus back to the apt stopping at Exito on the way to pick up their last bag of milk and a bottle of Blancox (Clorox for colored clothes).

Teresa told me she is going to Pricesmart with Olga after lunch and then they are going across the street to the new Arkadia mall.

I left the apt at 2pm and walked up to Avenida Poblado where I soon caught a Sabaneta bus.  I got off by Parque Poblado and soon caught a metro bus up to Vizcaya mall, arriving at 2:35.  I bought a preferred seating ticket for 12mil to Official Secrets (7.3).

I sat downstairs until closer to showtime then went upstairs and, for the first time, used 150 of my 2,500 accumulated points to buy a small popcorn and small soda.  I enjoyed the movie with the other 10 people in the audience.  Btw, 2 weeks after opening Cats (2.8) has made back 41million worldwide of its 95million cost.

I walked down to Envios Market where I picked up my SS annual benefits statement, a donation request letter from Chess Life, and 2 Capital One letters that I had thrown out.

I had a couple chess note pages printed at the corner copy center then quickly caught an Envigado bus back to, wait for it, Envigado.

I stopped at Exito and bought a couple bags of milk, arriving back at the apt by 6pm.

Teresa returned at 7pm and said she wanted to go for pizza.  We left the apt at 7:30 and took a taxi to Antica Pizza only to find it closed with a makeshift sign on the door.  Across the street the patecon stand wasn’t open either.  We took the taxi to Bocados Bar where we had shish kebab and fresh juice.  Teresa called MT and she arrived a few minutes later.  They chatted for a couple hours and in the meantime I checked my cellphone.  At 10pm we walked MT back to her apt and we took a taxi back to ours.  Teresa informed me that Wilson says MT is losing it because she wants to return to work in the US.

11,550 steps today.

Joke of the day

A dedicated Teamsters union worker was attending a convention in Las Vegas and decided to check out the local brothels.

When he got to the first one, he asked the Madam, "Is this a union house?"

"No," she replied, "I'm sorry it isn't."

"Well, if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?"

"The house gets $80 and the girls get $20," she answered.

Offended at such unfair dealings, the union man stomped off down the street In search of a more equitable, hopefully unionized shop.

His search continued until finally he reached a brothel where the Madam responded, "Why yes sir, this is a union house. We observe all union rules."

The man asked, "And, if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?" 
"The girls get $80 and the house gets $20."

"That's more like it!" the union man said.

He handed the Madam $100 , looked around the room, and pointed to a stunningly attractive green-eyed blonde ..   

"I'd like her," he said.

"I'm sure you would, sir," said the Madam.

Then she gestured to a 97-year old woman in the corner, "but Ethel here has 72 years seniority and according to union rules, she's next! "