Saturday, August 8, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 2:15, finally waking at 5:15 and getting up at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 7,138 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 23 minutes for a sleep score of 75.

I arrived at Daniel’s barbershop right at 9am. I got my haircut and scheduled my next one for Tuesday, August 25^th, 2 days before we leave for Chicago.

I walked to Todo Drogas and bought more eye drops but they wouldn’t/couldn’t sell me zopiclona for this reason:

I have a prescription and I've purchased it here before so I don't know what has changed.

I walked to La Buena Mesa and had a latte outside Los Porteños. Strange, but Dan came out and a few minutes later went back in but didn’t appear to notice me.

I left at 11:30 and returned to the apt.

I left the apt at 2:15 and was surprised to find Asados Rogelio packed and there were several people waiting for a table. I went next door to Tierra Querida and had a burger, fries and a Coke. What I didn’t like about the burger: the pickles are sweet not dill, and it seemed they place all of them with the tomato slices and cheese at one side of the burger instead of spreading them around.

I moved to Los Porteños where I had a latte and completed another page of puzzles, missing one. I played another 15+10 game on Chess.com against a higher rated player, losing in 34 moves.

Received an email my brother is coming for a visit Friday, October 16^th to Saturday, October 24^th.

I left at 5pm and returned to the apt.

Teresa returned at 6:30 and brought me a pastel de pollo from Picositas for my supper.

We had another hot day so I’m thinking we’re in a summer period.

I still can’t get the hot water heater to work. ☹

I finished season 3 of Falling Skies then started my pre-sleep routine.

 

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FUNNY

Friday, August 7, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 12:45am, finally waking at 5am and getting up at 6am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 4,157 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 47 minutes for a sleep score of 81. 😊

Today is a holiday here as it’s the inauguration of their new president.

I tried paying for my Chess.com membership by entering my debit card on their website but it wouldn’t accept it either. ☹

I had a short nap after breakfast.

I have an email from USAA that I need to call because there’s an issue with my debit card. ☹

I had a short nap after breakfast, 16 minutes per my Fitbit.

I left the apt just after 9am with my gym bag and checked it into a locker on the 3^rd floor. I completed my usual workout keeping the Seated Leg Curl at 60# without much bother. I completed my treadmill with a final heartrate of 125bpm.

In La Buena Mesa I bought my usual banana and found a gringo seated at one of the concrete tables. His name is Dan and he was born in southern Illinois, most recently from California. He’s on his 3rd day of 6 weeks here and I knew he was a gringo because I saw his book on Spanish Verb Tenses.

We chatted for about an hour before I returned to the apt.

I left the apt about 2:30 and had a latte in Gardenia. I completed another 12 chess puzzles but got 5 of them wrong. ☹ I played another 15/10 game on Chess.com but lost in 24 moves.

I left at 5pm and stopped in a busy Antonio’s Gelato and bought a half liter of pistachio for 30mil.

Across the street in the park I came upon Dan working in his Spanish Verb Tenses book. I asked what he did today and he told me he’s just planning his weekend. He informed me that the Classic & Antique car parade is tomorrow, starts at 9:45am at the El Colombiano office, goes south to Mayorca mall then turns around and comes back this way. He says he’ll probably skip the silleteros (sp?) parade since he heard it really crowded. I noticed Dan shaking and I wonder if he has Parkinson’s disease. ☹

I returned to the apt and Teresa informed me she’s returning to Jardin de Botanico tomorrow with her friend Rosemary.

I received an email from USAA that there is a fraud concern with my debit card. When I tried to call them my MagicJack didn’t work.

I tried calling them from my cellphone but I suspect they were gone for the day/week.

I chatted with USAA and they reported a $249,900 attempted charge from Chess.com. I informed them that it’s probably in Colombian Pesos so that equates to something like 80 USD. They unblocked my card so now hopefully my Chess.com payment can go through.

Chesswiz98 surprised me by resigning our game on the 19^th move increasing my rating to 1557.

 

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FUNNY

Thursday, August 6, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 2:45am, finally waking/getting up at 6:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 9,853 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 7 hours and 49 minutes for a sleep score of 82. 😊

I went to take a shower but today there’s no hot water. I changed the D batteries (had a devil of a problem removing one of them) but still no hot water. ☹ I recall having the same problem last time I changed them.

I checked my blog and the last time I changed them was September 24, 2025 and then I noted, “you have to be sure the batteries are seated properly (pushed up) in the container”. I’ve done that several times already so I guess I just have to keep trying.

I chatted with USAA but they don’t see an attempt by Paypal to authorize my debit card. ☹ Back in Paypal I saw where I can delete the old card but same issue when I tried to add the new one. I ended up linking my bank to my Paypal account; hopefully that will work so I can pay my Chess.com bill.

I left the apt at 2:15, printed my latest games with Jose and took a seat outside Los Porteños. I completed another page of 12 puzzles and only got 2 wrong this time. I then played a 15’10” game on Chess.com, finally paired with someone with a higher rating (99 points higher) but he blundered a piece on the 13^th move and resigned. I reviewed my chess games vs Jose and it’s amazing the difference one bad move can make.,

I left at 5:30 and returned to the apt.

I watched another episode of Falling Skies then watched the NFL Hall of Fame game until 8pm when I started my pre-sleep routine.

 

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FUNNY

 

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, took a while to fall asleep (Fitbit reported it was 36 minutes), woke up once at 11:30, again at 5:15 finally getting up with Teresa at 6:45.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 3.992 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 36 minutes for a sleep score of 79.

I had a nap after breakfast that Fitbit reports was 41 minutes long.

When I woke up I saw this in my bedroom window.

BIRD 1-4

I got up and approached it and it moved to the far end of the windowsill but didn’t fly away. I thought maybe it was injured because it allowed me to touch it with my finger. I called Teresa and she watched as I approached it but this time it flew away, but only as far as the next bedroom window. Maybe that’s the bird that was born on our balcony – it certainly looked the same.

I left the apt just after 9am for Smartfit. Again I had a problem with my right knee on the seated curl and it appears I can’t go over 60# without it bothering me. I completed my workout including 10 minutes on the treadmill with a final heartrate of 125 bpm. I found out that the class the women go to at 9:15 is Pilates, at least on Mondays and Fridays.

Background: often sitting outside Ganso y Castor having coffee I would see a petite blond woman come by walking her 2 dogs and she would say, “good morning”.

Today I ran into her on my way to the park. She speaks good English because she worked in Pennsylvania for 30 years. 😊

I bought a banana and took a seat at one of the outside concrete tables and went through my phone.

I observed workers removing the last of the equipment from Ganso y Castor and load it into a truck.

I soon left and stopped in Ara but they didn’t have broccoli so I just returned to the apt.

Teresa and I left at 1:45 and took a Didi to Jardin de Botanico for 26,900 pesos.

Admittance was 30mil per person and it was set up a little different from last year but to me still the same stuff. Teresa bought a couple beaded bracelets for 100mil. We walked around the park and not too far from each other we saw these two iguanas:

Doesn't do much good to take video if the subject doesn't move.

This is the main part of the park where they have the flower competition.

We were sitting on a bench when I saw a couple little kids come by eating what looked like ice cream bars. (I think that’s what they’re called – vanilla ice cream on a stick covered in chocolate.) I pointed it out to Teresa and told her I want one of those. She replied she did too. I left her and walked in the opposite direction from them but couldn’t find them anywhere. I was gone about 30 minutes and by the time I returned Teresa thought I had gotten lost.

Troyclough resigned our game increasing my rating to 1545.

My daughter with my daughter’s daughter:

We left at 5:30 and to avoid traffic we went across the street to the metro. We climbed all those stairs only to find my Civica metro card rejected. I knew there was still about 50,000 pesos on it so Teresa talked to a guy who said we need to go down to the bridge. We went down the same stairs and across the street to the other side of the metro and went up another set of stairs where Teresa talked to a cashier. Apparently the new metro cards are gray but supposedly my old card should still work until we empty it. We went up more stairs to the train tracks and a train soon arrived and we were surprised it wasn’t cattle car full, in fact we both got seats.

At Ayura station more stairs to exit the station. There weren’t any taxis waiting so I showed Teresa which bus to take, We had to wait a few minutes for it to fill then driver took off and we got off even with our street and walked the block back to the apt.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

 

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly (I thought it was longer but my Fitbit reported it was only 14 minutes), slept through the night, woke up once at 4:45, finally getting up with Teresa at 5:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,824 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 21 minutes for a sleep score of 80.

I left the apt at 7:30 and took a Didi, in heavy traffic, to Unicentro mall for 21,300 pesos arriving just in time to buy a banana before the mall opened.

In Parmessano I had the scrambled eggs with Italian sausage and a pastel de queso and a latte for 47,100 pesos.

I had the Black pieces in the first game and Jose made an early mistake that gave me 2 pawns and the momentum but he held on and 2 ½ hours later we agreed to a draw.

My eyes were very tired today which wasn’t helped by a breeze coming in from outside, drying my eyes further.

I had the White pieces in the second game and I blundered a piece and pawn early and resigned after an hour.

It was only 12:30 when I ordered a Didi to take me to Viva Envigado, in heavy traffic, for 23,100 pesos.

I had teriyaki chicken with a Pepsi for lunch in Sarku’s. Downstairs I had a latte in Urbania for a couple of hours. I made plans with Jimmy for us to see a White Sox game while we’re in Chicago.

In Exito they only had a small carton of our favorite egg brand and I also bought a package of 2 D batteries.

I returned to the apt by taxi.

I watched a couple more episodes of Falling Skies on Netflix.

I finished reading James Patterson’s London Bridges (Alex Cross #10) at 9pm and had to restart my computer and download another book.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Monday, August 3, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, slept through the night, woke up once at 5:30, finally getting up with Teresa at 6am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 2,182 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 7 hours and 13 minutes for a sleep score of 78.

It seemed like it took a while to get hot water during my shower so I’d better buy those new D batteries.

I was planning on going to Gardenia this afternoon to get some work done but Teresa wants to go to El Tesoro. She believes it won’t be busy today.

I left the apt at 9am and found Smartfit busier than usual but amazingly by 9:15 it had cleared out – mainly women. I checked their class schedule and there is a class at that time but I don’t know what it is because it’s indicated by an icon. I completed my workout adding 5# to the Triceps Press, Seated Row, Abdominal Crunch, Lat Pulldown, Chest Press, Biceps Curl, Back Extension, and Shoulder Press. I still have right knee pain (probably due to cartilage loss) at 65# (for the first rep only) even when I work up to it from 50#, 55#, and 60#. ☹ I completed 10 minutes on the treadmill with a final heartrate of 123 bpm.

I found Ganso y Castor shuttered and dark. I left a peanut for the squirrels, bought a banana and took a seat outside Los Porteños. This is my new view…

At one point a gringa arrived with her 3 daughters but they took seats inside so I didn’t get the opportunity to talk to them.

When I arrived back at our complex Julio handed me my package – 2 packages of Astaxanthin from AcentiaLabs. Besides good for preventing kidney problems it may also benefit dry eyes.

Teresa informed me that Kelly is coming at 6pm to give her a massage so it might be difficult returning from El Tesoro so we’ll go there another day.

I left the apt just after 2pm for Gardenia. I completed another page of chess puzzles but got 5 of the 10 wrong. I played a 15’+10” game but lost in 31 moves. I spent about 45 minutes on chapter 1 of my new chess book.

I left at 5pm and returned to the apt.

Annie James letting her brother in the room…

While Teresa was getting a late massage from Kelly, I finished season 2 of Falling Skies.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

 

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 5am, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 6,936 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 7 hours and 34 minutes for a sleep score of 83.

After breakfast I returned to bed for an hour but didn’t sleep much.

I set up an account with Budget.com and added my credit card declining the collision damage insurance and my Budget Fastbreak ID is XXXXXX

I reserved a Toyota Corolla (or similar) for August 27^th through September 17^th for

$887.97 - Base Rate

$585.27 – Rental Options

$685.76 – Taxes & Fees

$2159.00 – TOTAL

Unlimited mileage, $0 Due Today, Free Cancellation.

Chesswiz98 resigned our game on the 24^th move, increasing my rating to 1552.

We left the apt at 1:15 and took a Didi to El Correo in Provenza for 14,100 pesos. Teresa had the chicken and I the ribs again with a juice for her and a Coke for me for a total of 205,517 pesos ($66). I ate all my fries and half my ribs and got the other half to go.

We took a Didi to Santafe mall for 9,800 pesos and it was as busy as Teresa predicted. This is a photo of their atrium from the 2^nd floor

We got the last table in Valentina’s where I had a latte, Teresa a granizado and we shared a slice of a new cake for about 78,000 pesos. Teresa wanted to go to the flower show in Jardin de Botanico on opening day, Tuesday, but I talked her in to going on Wednesday.

We left at 5pm and returned to the apt by taxi.

AJ at the beach...

I watched a couple more episodes of Falling Skies on Netflix.

I had the remaining ribs for supper with a small Coke.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY