Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up twice during the night, woke up at 7am, did my Kegel exercises and got up.
I arrived at Los Porteños by 9:15 but when I
checked my text messages, I had one from Glenn that he had a last-minute
urologist appointment and wouldn’t be able to meet with me. When no one came to
serve me after 5-10 minutes I moved to Ganso y Castor where I had French
toast with strawberries and banana slices and 2 lattes. (Currently, workers are
using jackhammers to remove the concrete supporting a bicycle parking stand.)
At one point I saw two men standing outside Antonio’s Gelato looking at construction
plans; of course, too far away for me to recognize anything.
I stopped in Exito to buy bathroom cleaner and
milk. Strangely, their coolers had no milk but were full of beer. I asked about
that and was directed to a sign that they would be closing next Monday. Which
explains why they wouldn’t want to keep milk around that would spoil. I asked
when they would reopen and was told never, so obviously something big is going
on. I hope whoever moves in will be quieter (at least at 6am) than Exito.
My best guess is the warehouse next door will expand into this space.
I returned to the apt by 11am.
I spent 45 minutes ($1.85
using Talk360) talking with USAA reps:
1st, I started the
process of connecting Charles Schwab (CS) to my USAA account. It will take a
few days but everything should be ready soon and I’ll be able to easily move
money back and forth. (My goal is to eventually have CS as my primary account with their 0% fee checking account and
use USAA (1%) as my savings account. When I am completely comfortable with this arrangement, I will then drop Citibank (3%)
completely.)
2nd, I restated
that my last name is misspelled on their website. It isn’t misspelled anywhere in
their system except where it lists the Primary Account Holders. Very strange. I now have confidence at least the problem is being
addressed.
Teresa returned at noon.
I left the apt at 2:30 and took a Didi to Viva
Envigado where I recycled a couple plastic bottles then entered Bancolombia.
Even though the waiting area was nearly full I only had a 5-minute wait to see
a cashier. (I thought, “this is too easy”.) The cashier didn’t seem to know how
to handle a “giro”, a cash transfer, so she asked me to go to the cashier to my
left. She was busy with another customer so I had about a 15-minute wait.
When it was my turn, I explained I need to put
8,000,000 pesos into Dr. Gomez’ account and handed her my two giros totaling
7,000,000 and 1,000,000 in cash, and the account information. It took about 15
minutes for her to process everything and I had to add another 18mil. While
waiting I noticed a young man go in back and bring out this miniature shopping
cart. He wheeled it to the lady customer next to me who had an airport carry-on
loaded with bags of 500 and 1,000 mil coins and the chico transferred them to the
shopping cart. At the same time, I noticed a huge stack of 50mil bills being
counted in the cash reader machine. When I was finished with my deposit, I
asked the cashier if I could pay for my Direct TV payment and was told
only if I have the bill. I haven’t had one for several years, I just pay the
same 128,500 pesos every month.
I went to Santa Leña where I waited about
20-minutes for someone to notice me so to order a latte.
When I left I went to Auros to print a copy of
my test results. I stopped in Medipiel, waited my turn, and called
Teresa because I understood she needed something but she said she would have to
be with me.
I waited in line at the Exito payment area only
to be told I had to pay my Direct TV bill in Baloto. I told her its
closed and she said “no” and pointed towards the garage. I found Baloto right
at the entrance and quickly paid the bill.
In Exito I bought a box of MPs, 2 bags of milk,
a 6-pack of 250ml Coke, and a bag of carrots. While waiting in line Teresa
called and asked me to return to Medipiel. I told her I was just there.
She said I needed to pick up something for Laura and I eventually got her to
admit she had forgotten. In Medipiel I called Teresa again and handed
the phone to a sales rep and she got out some cream and set it next to the
register. She then disappeared in the stock room and I didn’t know if I was
waiting to be rung up for the one item or if the rep had gone to get another
item. I sat down on a nearby bench until it was my turn to checkout and was
told it was just one item for 87mil. I gave her my debit card and she tried
scanning it twice but told me it didn’t work. I went to a nearby Servibanca ATM
and got cash to be able to pay. I went outside to the new taxi stand and had a
5-minute wait to return to the apt.
In the evening there was a knock on the door; one of
the porteros brought our Tigo/Une (wifi) bill.
Tomorrow Teresa is going to an early gym class then a
massage (leftover from a package that Laura purchased) so I made plans to meet
Glenn for breakfast at Los Porteños.
The
New York Times’ 7-day average of new daily infections and deaths has the US
with NO CHANGE? ð 141,412 ð 129,239 new cases and
NO CHANGE? ð 2,329 ð 2,291 new deaths.
Per
Medellin Guru, as of yesterday, Colombia has a total of 3,162 ð 3,731 ð 4,142 new cases with 186 ð 138 ð 147 new deaths. Medellin has 170 ð 261 ð 261 new cases from February 15th to 16th. Envigado has 6 ð 9 ð 9 new cases from February 15th to 16th.
Joke of the day
Question: What’s
the most useless thing on a woman?
Answer: A
drunken Irishman.
I heard
this joke on an episode of The Wire. When I told it to my son he said, isn’t
“drunken Irishman” redundant? 😊
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