Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, woke up but didn’t get up about 2am, waking/getting up at 6am. One strange thing; sometime during the night I heard someone say, “Terry”, and I said, “Yes”. I opened my eyes but no one was there so I must have dreamt it. 😊

We left the apt at 9am and Elson was our Didi driver. I’ll try to describe him: long black hair, 2 nose rings, a skull ring on one of his fingers (couldn’t identify the other ring), a chain bracelet plus numerous thin plastic bracelets on his left wrist and tattoos covering both arms and hands except his left hand (I guess he hadn’t gotten to that spot yet).

We were twenty minutes early for my appointment so Teresa went to O’Cake because she was hungry. I took a seat in the general waiting area and was finally taken about 30 minutes after my 9:20 scheduled appointment. All my blood test results were good and Dr. Castano did an ultra sound on my abdomen. All is good. The cost was 290mil and my next appointment is Tuesday, May 20^th at 9am.

It was a 10-minute wait for the elevator and I stopped on the 6^th floor at Urogine where I got my blood pressure taken – 136/83. When I asked google if this was a good reading for a 79-year-old man it replied, “No, a blood pressure of 136/83 is not good for a 79-year-old man.” But then it said, “We recommend a systolic blood pressure goal of <140 in patients less than 80 years of age and a systolic pressure of 140-150 in patients 80 years of age or older.” Well, I’m close to 140 systolic and close to 80 so maybe that’s close to acceptable.

I waited for Teresa outside H&M and at noon we went to J&C Delicias for lunch. I had the chicken teriyaki and she had salmon.

I told Teresa about the change in our Avianca flight and she told me she has a massage appointment with Kelly this afternoon at 4:30.

While we were there it started raining and got quite cold. I was so glad I had brought a jacket. It seemed to take forever to catch a waitress to give us our check as we were freezing to death. (Is Bogota going to be cold like this?)

We had lattes (to warm up) and shared a slice of cake upstairs in Valentina’s.

We left at 2:30 and luckily there was no line for a taxi. When we got in, the driver had the A/C on. I asked him to turn it off and he motioned that he needed it for the windshield. I reached over and turned off the A/C and turned on the fan and hit the button for the defroster. We returned to the apt for 18,300 pesos and I gave the driver 20mil and told him to keep the change.

I felt I was in a losing position against octopusmotor (1681) but I managed a draw increasing my rating 1 point to 1626. Now I get the White pieces against him.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 resigned our game increasing my rating to 1630. My rating has never been this high before, now we’ll see if I can keep it over 1600.

 

JUST FUNNY

Monday, November 18, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, woke up but didn’t get up about 3am, got up about 5am, was awakened by Teresa opening a drawer at 6:30 so I got up.

After lunch, Teresa wants us to go to Santafe mall.

I left the apt at 8am and completed my workout in Smartfit. I stopped next door at the La Casona mall to print a page of chess notes but the copy center had yet to open for the day (it was just before 9am). I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for a little over an hour. I stopped at the Bancolombia kiosk and had my chess page printed for 1 mil before returning to the apt.

Teresa informed me about her plans for Wednesday. Something about after gym, I’ll meet her somewhere for lunch and while she’s in art class I’ll have a café con leche nearby. After class we’ll take a Didi to Las Americas in Belen where she has a doctor’s appointment. I’m sure we’ll be discussing this again.

Just for grins, I did a quick search on Booking.com and found lots of 5* (they’re now referred to as 8/10) resorts for our dates in Punta Cana, so maybe the advice is to not do your search too early (more than 6 months before).

Just before noon we received a call that changed our plans. Dr. Castano won’t be available Thursday so my appointment has been changed to tomorrow at the same time, 9:40am.

I sent Jose a text that I won’t be available tomorrow, and since I’ll be going to El Tesoro, Teresa decided to go with me tomorrow instead of us going to Santafe today.

I left the apt at 2pm and had a latte in Los Portenos while editing my chess notes. I received an email from Avianca changing our flight times. Now we’re leaving Medellin at 9:53 am and returning from Bogota at 2:33pm. Also, they appear to have charged me for 2 carry-ons so Teresa will take her carry-on and I’ll take my backpack.

I left at 4pm (and it chose that exact minute to start raining) and stopped in Ara for milk and kitchen gloves.

The rain finally stopped around 6pm.

I watched the news for the rest of the evening.

 

JUST FUNNY

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 2:15am, again at 5:15, finally awakened by Teresa at 7:15.

At 8:15 we took a Didi to Hija Mia Nomada in Manila, Poblado. Teresa was in her gym clothes as she planned to go to a class in Mayorca afterward. I was in shorts and a t-shirt and, so early in the cool morning, would have been more comfortable had I worn pants. Teresa had eggs & avocado on toast and I had French toast.

This is the newest purse she’s making, now in the earliest stage.

Btw, the Mrs. is looking good!

These are other purses that Teresa made previously:

Troyclough was winning our latest game (even though I was up the exchange) with a passed pawn on the 6^th rank protected by 2 bishops and a rook. About 10 moves later he blundered positionally and after a tactical combination he resigned on the 45^th move, increasing my rating to 1625.

Teresa had another latte before we left and the total check came to 134,750 pesos ($30). We returned to the apt by another Didi. (Our driver’s name was Yimi, they sure have some strange names here.)

Teresa changed her mind and didn’t go to the gym class as she wasn’t sure what time it started.

I watched the Bears lose a close one to the Packers, 20-19. I finished my large bag of peanuts and got halfway through one of my new 10 oz. bags.

I looked for 2024’s The Equalizer 3 on Netflix but only found 2014’s The Equalizer so we watched that and Teresa enjoyed it so I got away with it. 😊

I watched most of an expanded episode of 60 Minutes.

 

JUST FUNNY

Saturday, November 16, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:30am.

I have a 9am haircut appointment so I left the apt at 8:45 in a Didi. I took a Didi to Todo Drogas where I purchased my medications for the next four weeks. I walked to the copy center where I had a couple chess pages printed. I continued on to the used book store where I exchanged my Code Girls paperback for Kite Runner, another #1 New York Times Bestseller. (Btw, I noticed three books about Donald Trump.) I stopped at a small bakery where I had a churro (not so good) and a café con leche that was more like leche con café than the other way around. I made plans to meet Glenn for breakfast tomorrow then walked back to the apt.

I left the apt at 2pm and walked to the mall in a light drizzle. I recycled a 9V battery, printed another set of chess notes and had a latte in Urbania.

Here is the atrium, decked out for Santa Claus

and we haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet! They’re having some sort of a fair and I spotted a Cinnabon booth. 😊 I bought a large carton of eggs before returning to the apt by taxi. Teresa asked me to go to Antonio’s and buy a half liter of coconut gelato and half liter of pistachio. I did and we had pancakes with bananas and gelato for supper.

Teresa wants me to take her to Hija Mia Nomada for breakfast tomorrow so I cancelled my breakfast with Glenn.

 

JUST FUNNY

Friday, November 15, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 5:30am.

I’m finally playing someone about my own rating, octopusmotor rated 1639. I have the Black pieces so we’ll see how it goes.

I left the apt at 7:30 and completed my workout in Smartfit. In Ganso y Castor I was having a latte when I met Brian from Florida. His family is originally from El Salvador so I told him I saw the CNN special last night where they were showing the maximum-security prison in El Salvador. He is renting an AirBnB in the park and when I enquired, he said they go for $700-$800 a month. I informed him this is the rainy season here but it should be ending soon.

Teresa called and asked me to buy “jabon de coco” in Tienda D1. Luckily, I had 5mil with me, intending to print some blog pages for our embassy visit. I paid for my latte and stopped in Tienda D1 and pretty quickly found the jabon de coco,it only cost 1,950 pesos and luckily the line wasn’t long. I returned to the apt. When I handed her the bar she told me she wanted “liquido”. Well then you need to tell me that.

I’ve decided to learn a new defense against e4. I’ve been playing the Scandinavian, now I’m going to consider switching to the Pirc so I’m looking at lessons on Youtube.

I left again at 1:30, printed some blog pages and a first draft of Pirc notes and had a latte in Los Portenos while completing a couple more pages of chess puzzles. I suddenly realized I was out of bagels so I went to Eduardo Madrid bakery where I found a sleeve of 5 bagels. I bought those and had a latte for a couple hours. When I heard a lot of squawking outside, I took this video of more Macaws hanging out in the trees across the street.

Teresa called at 3:45 and asked me to pick up eggs and plantains in Mercado Madrid. I left at 4pm in a light drizzle and returned to the apt. I explained I only had two hands and since it was raining, I wasn’t going to go out again to the grocery store. Sorry! Tomorrow afternoon.

Kelly arrived about 6:15 to give Teresa a massage and it was about 6:30 when I noticed it was raining but it didn’t last very long.

I heard some cheering outside and I had seen a few people wearing Colombian jerseys today. I checked my cellphone and Uruguay defeated Colomba 3-2.

 

JUST FUNNY

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, again at 5am, couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up at 5:30am.

Since I had the White pieces against yoDerek88, I decided to give him a chance to play the White pieces.

Gladiator II (7.0) is playing at 2:20pm so I think I’ll see that later. (Teresa is meeting up with a gf who is going for a mammography appointment.)

I left the apt at 8am and stopped in Pasteur where I bought a box of Tena Dia pads for 24,489 pesos ($5.50). I took an outside seat in Los Portenos where I had a latte while waiting for Marcos. He arrived at 9:15 and we discussed recent events. He leaves next week for a month in Arizona, returning on December 10^th. He asked if I want him to bring me anything from the states. I told him about Alejandro maybe buying an iPad on Cyber Monday and he could bring it to me. I asked about where I could buy a flannel shirt for cold Bogota and he suggested Decathalon, the sporting goods store. Great idea.

He left at 10am and I left at 10:30 and returned to the apt.

yoDerek88 resigned our game on the 12^th move when I was about to win a piece plus the exchange, increasing my rating 1 point to 1616.

I left the apt at 1:30 and walked to the mall in my pants, t-shirt, undershirt, and carrying a jacket, expecting excessive air conditioning in the theater if not rain later.

I recycled a bottle then went up to the 2^nd floor and bought a Preferential ticket to Gladiator II (7.0) for 8,000 pesos. They also gave me a raffle ticket to fill out for a new car. (I’ll takc care of that later.)

I made a quick trip to Decathalon looking for a flannel shirt but the closest I found was this jacket for 90,000 pesos.

Reentering the theater the guy ahead of me looked familiar.

It was Jose Avandaño who I hadn’t seen in quite some time. After he got all his snacks: 2 tubs of popcorn (one which he dumped into a bag?) and a large soda he took a seat at my table. With 30 movie viewings this year he’s already earned his platinum card for next year while I have something like 6. He looks good with some more facial hair then I remember. He says he works out at the gym 6 days a week only taking off on Saturdays. He was still waiting on a friend to arrive when I made my last trip to the restroom, claimed my free Platinum popcorn, bought a large soda and entered the theater. I had a seat in the last balcony aisle and there were maybe half a dozen others with me. The movie was good but not great and when it ended I noticed Jose sitting on the main floor.

I made a trip to the restroom, then as I was exiting the mall the coolness suggested to me that it might be raining. There were just a few raindrops as I got in the sheltered line for a taxi.

We had some rain in the evening but it had stopped by the time I went to bed.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 resigned our game on the 30^th move, increasing my rating to 1620.

 

JUST FUNNY

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 5:15, couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up at 5:45am.

Teresa made me breakfast before she goes to her 7:30am gym class in Viva Envigado.

I tried paying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fee on their website but was told it works better with Chrome. I switched to chrome and got this error “Erro CSRF 2”; I guess I’m going to need to pay in person. ☹

Teresa changed her mind and instead of gym in Viva Envigado she’s going to her regular 9:15 gym class in Mayorca.

I left the apt at 7:45 and completed my workout in Smartfit. I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about an hour. I replaced one of the missing peanuts.

I returned to the apt at 9:15 and Teresa soon left for her gym class.

I tried again to pay the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fee but this time received a different error.

I left at 10:15 and took a Didi to Banco Sudameris in Poblado. Within a hundred yards of each other are this bank, Parmessano and Davivienda (with Inter-Col upstairs). I walked up the staircase to the bank. I couldn’t see an entrance but a guard inside motioned me to this “pod”.

You push the bottom red button and it opens and you step inside. Talk about claustrophobic, you hope it opens on the other side, which it did. I assumed this is a security service to only allow one person in at a time. Maybe it also checks for weapons. I asked if anyone spoke English but they just motioned me to the cashier. I showed her my text message from Inter-Col and asked if I could pay with US my debit card. Nope. She handed me a note that said, “3 retiros de 700,000 x cajero” and directed me outside to an ATM so I had to go through the pod sequence (beam me up Scottie!) again. With only one mistake where I had to start over, I made two withdrawals of 1,000,000 pesos each. I got a CER of 4,251 pesos/$ and the ATM fee for each was 22,500 pesos. Back inside I gave her 1,600,000 pesos and she gave me a fancy receipt.

Back outside (survived the beaming process again) I walked 100 yards to Davivienda and took the elevator up to the “main floor”. I gave the receptionist my cedula and asked to go to Inter-Col. He made a call and told me to go on up. I went up and handed Angie the receipt and she said that’s all I need to do. After I few questions I learned that 1) I should receive my Resident Visa in the next couple days. 2) I should receive an invitation to pick up my new Cedula in about 2 months. (Gringos on FB are complaining it’s taking much longer.)

Across the street I quickly caught a bus back to Envigado. After I sat down, I checked my cellphone and there was my Residency Visa. Yay! And it’s good for 5 years. I got off across from Smartfit and bought 2 bags of milk in a small store and returned to the apt.

I left the apt at 11:45 and on my way to the mall I noticed Shell has reopened the natural gas area of the station.

I recycled a few plastic bottles, printed my Residency Visa in color and walked out the south exit of Exito. I found an escalator to take me up to IKEA where I ran into the same “gym” as last time

This time I inquired, “if you’re not a fucking gym, what are you”? Of course he didn’t speak English so I repeated it in Spanish without the swear word and he said “we’re a gym”. 😊

Upstairs in IKEA I asked a guard about the store’s hours and learned they open at 9am (store, café, and restaurant). Up another level I bought lasagna (mixta), a cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee for 28,480 pesos ($6.40). There is a machine where you make your own coffee but I don’t know if they allow seconds. I put the cinnamon roll in the microwave for 20 seconds to warm it up a little. Today the A/C was too cold to stick around.

This is what their lunchroom looks like from the back corner:

When I left, I noticed this sign in another store:

It’s for a shoe company named VANS but to me it suggests, “the square root of/is the Answer”. 😊

I had a latte in Urbania and solved a few more chess puzzles. At one point a man came by and tried to sell me an ink pen. Don’t usually see that in the mall. A few minutes later a guy came by selling lottery tickets.

I left at 3:30, bought a package of napkins in Exito and went outside to catch a taxi. The driver didn’t seem to know where Eduardo Madrid bakery was so I told him to go north on Ave Las Vegas and go up the hill from McDonald’s. As we entered heavy traffic he said, “manifestacion”. I thought that meant “demonstration” and google confirmed it. A traffic policeman was blocking the turnoff to Ave Las Vegas north. I handed the driver 5mil and got out. I went up to the policeman and asked if it would be dangerous for a gringo to walk to McDonalds. He assured me it was safe and as I approached the intersection, I saw 3 taxis-wide blocking some of the lanes. I had a latte in the bakery while waiting for Teresa to arrive.

She arrived at 5:30 and we shared a chicken sandwich while she had a latte.

We left just before 6pm and returned to the apt.

Gladiator II is playing in Cine Colombia so maybe I’ll see it tomorrow afternoon.

 

JUST FUNNY