Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Last night I went to bed at 10pm (it was raining so for a change I put a blanket over my sheet), fell asleep quickly, got up once at 2:15 and again at 5:30. Teresa also made a trip to the bathroom and when she returned informed me she had a bad night and won’t be going to the gym early today – no surprise there. I did my Kegel exercises, fell back asleep, and woke/got up at 7:30.

Today is my son Jimmy’s 35^th birthday! Happy Birthday Jim!

I met Glenn at Los Porteños for breakfast. I had my usual croissant with scrambled eggs sandwich, and he had a croissant and got a cupcake to go. Of course we also had coffee.

Workers have constructed a work hut right in front of us where the the tent used to be.

There is some type of construction going on in the crossing street (Carrera 44A). Workers are stacking dozens of pallets and putting up sheets of drywall along the sides of the street for what reason I have no idea. More later.

I returned to the apt by 11:30 and Teresa was still out getting her nails done. She returned at noon and handed me a stack of envelopes, almost all using the old 769 Tanglewood Circle address. (Still no Charles Schwab debit card.)

I received 2 of my 4 2021 1099s, 2 change of address confirmations, and my 2022 SS New Benefit amount statement. Nothing very exciting but now I’m going to start keeping better track of who has which of my addresses.

I was planning on going to Viva Envigado for my first large ATM withdrawal but Teresa wanted to go to Pricesmart. That changed at 1:30 when it started raining.

After lunch it was still raining so Pricesmart was out of the picture. I didn’t feel like walking in the rain and I know how difficult it is to catch a taxi or Didi when it’s raining because so many others want a ride. I used my inDriver app and offered 10mil for a usual 5,800-peso ride. A minute later the app suggested I up my offer (greedy buggers) but I waited 5 more minutes and it was accepted. As I was walking out the door Teresa asked me to bring back a slice of strawberry cake from Todo Fresa. I was waiting in the porteria when 10 minutes later I saw my ride drive by. He obviously realized his mistake as he returned a couple minutes later. I handed the driver 10,000 pesos as I jumped out at the entrance to the mall.

I printed Dr. Gomez’ order for my pre-surgery tests at Auros.

I withdrew 2,000,000 pesos from an ATM.

I walked through a relatively new store named Casaideas.

I took a seat at Todo Fresa and ordered a coffee and a slice of strawberry cake to go. She suggested cheesecake and I agreed. This is the lady who is trying to learn English and she asked me how to say “para llevar” in English and I said, “to go”. She may have been confused as she asked me how to say, “to take” in Spanish and I said, “tomar”.

Teresa called to remind me to pick up milk and the cake, of course.

I left at 4:30 and made a trip to the restroom before leaving the mall.

In Exito I picked up two bags of milk and put them in the Auros bag I carry with me. As I left the cashier I had the thought, “where is my cake?” and I realized I left it in the restroom so I hurried back inside the mall and found it where I left it.

Luckily it wasn’t raining, and I returned to the apt by taxi.

Teresa was disappointed that I had cheesecake instead of carrot cake. It wouldn’t be the first time she was thinking of one thing and saying another. I was disappointed as it was pure cheesecake with no strawberries.

The tests Dr. Gomez requested are “Hemogram, glycaemia, creatinine, PT and TPT and electrocardiogram”. I think the first four are blood tests and the last I should be able to do the same day. I also have a PSA test I’m supposed to have before my March 1^st appointment with Dr. Castaño that I think can be done at the same time. Hopefully, with one blood draw.

In the evenings Teresa usually takes over TV viewing for first the news and then Yo Me Llamo so I read or look at my cellphone.

 

The New York Times’ 7-day average of new daily infections and deaths has the US with 253,562 ð 253,800 ð 225,127 new cases and 2,600 ð 2,600 ð 2,550 new deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of yesterday, Colombia has a total of 9,080 ð 9,730 ð 8,785 new cases with 235 ð 205 ð 207 new deaths. Medellin has 312 ð 298 ð 539 new cases from February 8^th to 9^th. Envigado has 17 ð 14  ð 30new cases from February 8^th to 9^th.