Thursday, June 18, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 11:15, fell asleep quickly, a trip to the bathroom at 2am (it was raining), fell back asleep quickly, finally waking/getting up at 6:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 2,458 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 28 minutes for a sleep score of 77.

I left the apt at 9:15 and met Marcos at Tostao. I asked him about the $2800 for cremation and shipping the ashes to Florida and he thought that was reasonable. The $20,000 he quoted earlier, besides shipping the body ($6000), included burial.

Chris Cajoleas came by and we chatted briefly. He’s seen all but 4 of the World Cup matches thus far, probably all at Barrio Sur. He still can’t raise his right arm so he won’t be playing tejo for awhile.

Marcos got a call from Johana, she was at the bank and was missing some information so Marcos had to leave early.

I left at 10:30 and stopped in Ara for some apples, but they were out of the lettuce Teresa prefers, before returning to the apt.

I left the apt at 2pm, printed some chess notes at the Bancolombia kiosk then had a latte in Los Porteños.  I left there at 4pm and picked up a package in the porteria on my way back to the apt. It contained Teresa’s clasps for making bracelets.

I ordered some chess books, 50 Mistakes You Should Know: Valuable Lessons for Every Chess Player from New in Chess and The Step Method, Workbooks #3-5 from Amazon. The later were recommended by my chess course and all had to be sent to my ship forwarder in Florida.

I checked statistics on my games vs Jose and I have a winning percentage of 42.5% with the White pieces and 36.4% with the Black pieces. ☹

I checkmated mekael965 in 21 moves, increasing my rating to 1494.

Aargh, I forgot to pay Innovation Corp to have my Fitbit band forwarded on from Bogota. Tomorrow!

I watched Canada defeat Qatar 6-0 on Telemundo.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

 

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, a trip to the bathroom at 2:15, fell back asleep quickly, finally waking at 5:30 and getting up at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,675 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 7 hours and 11 minutes for a sleep score of 81.

I rested my eyes in bed for an hour after breakfast.

I left the apt at 8:45 and found Smartfit busier than usual but I was able to complete my normal routine with little delay.

While having a latte in Ganso y Castor, workers were constructing something at the end of the park.

Since Colombia plays tonight, I’m guessing it’s a screen to broadcast the match.

Teresa called and asked me to order a Didi to take her to Clinca Medellin downtown so she could visit her sister Vickie.

I left at 11am and stopped in Eduardo Madrid and bought the 16 English muffins I ordered for 44,800 pesos.

I packed up my laptop and left the apt at 12:45 for Gardenia.

I had their pulled pork sandwich which wasn’t anything like I expected.

I worked a bit on my laptop (new chess course).

I left at 2:45 and returned to the apt, dropped off my backpack, grabbed my bag with the empty plastic muffin containers and took a Didi to the mall. 

I recycled the plastic containers and went up to Cine Colombia and bought an IMAX ticket for the 6:20 showing of Disclosure Day (6.8). They must have had a lot of advance sales because I ended up with a general seat on the side for 11,300 pesos. The cashier asked for my id, then took my platinum card, tore it up and returned a regular card. ☹

I had over 2 hours to kill so I went nearby to Claro and paid my cellphone bill for the month, withdrew 2 million pesos, printed yesterday’s chess games, then went down to Urbania and had a latte while going over the games.

At 6pm I made a trip to the restroom then returned to a very busy Cine Colombia. I can’t use the short Platino line any longer but I got lucky as a new cashier opened and they divided a line in half. On the other hand, it was slow but I bought my usual small (con sal) popcorn and large soda. As I entered the dark theater the trailers had already started but I easily found my aisle seat. The sound wasn’t too loud so I didn’t have to plug my ears this time. The theater was nearly full and the movie was good although not what I expected. I thought everything would commence from the disclosure day but it didn’t come until the end.

As I left it was 9pm, when the Colombia match was supposed to start so I walked to the other side of the mall and observed this.

Outside I quickly caught a taxi back to the apt.

I watched Colombia beat Uzbekistan 3-1 on the Telemundo channel on Medellin TV then went to bed at 11:15.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

 

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, a trip to the bathroom at 2am, fell back asleep quickly, finally waking at 5:30 and getting up at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 7,133 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 55 minutes for a sleep score of 84.

Annie James is 9 months old today.

At 7:15 I ordered my Didi and arrived 20 minutes early to Unicentro mall. I bought a banana then walked around the outside of the mall 3 times for exercise.

When the mall opened at 8am I went upstairs to Parmessano where Jose soon met me. We had our usual breakfast with coffee, mine costing me 50,500 pesos.

We moved to the food court where Jose had the White pieces in the first game. He got a strong attack against my king which I held onto finally succumbing on the 30^th move.

I had the Black pieces in the second game and he blundered his bishop on the 38^th move and he finally resigned on move 50.

It was only 1:15 when I left and ordered a Didi to take me to Pricesmart. I had a slice of pepperoni pizza and a Coke then bought 7 items for 365,986 pesos ($105.50), including breakfast sausage, Smuckers Strawberry Preserves, and 2 turkey breast. I could have bought a couple more but only had one bag and it was heavy enough.

I returned to the apt where Teresa was visibly distraught because her sister Vickie is in the hospital with pneumonia. How did she catch it? Best I could understand is Vickie didn’t wear a mask when she visited her mother a week ago.

I fell asleep for an hour on the recliner.

Carrie says Glenn may not leave the cancer clinic and, on his behalf, they are applying for permission for him to be euthanized, a process that may take up to 10 days. ☹

I watched a couple more episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale, The Chris Hayes Show, then it was time to start my pre-sleep reading.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

 

Monday, June 15, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, a trip to the bathroom at 2:15, took a while to fall back asleep, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 4,309 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 7 hours and 54 minutes for a sleep score of 88.

Today is another holiday, Sagrado Corazon (Sacred Heart).

I left the apt at 8:30 and found Smartfit not as busy as usual. I completed my workout including 18 minutes on the treadmill with a final hear rate of 118 bpm.

I was having a latte in Ganso y Castor when Teresa called and asked me to pick up broccoli in Ara. I left at 11am, stopped in Ara and picked up broccoli and a bag of milk. Only having two hands, I put my notebook in one pocket and my cellphone in my other so as to be able to carry the items I purchased. The weight of the notebook and cellphone nearly pulled my gym shorts down. 😊

We are out of eggs so at 2pm I packed my laptop and took a Didi to Viva Envigado.

I recycled a pill bottle and withdrew 2 million pesos from the ATM near Exito. I got in a slow line at Exito Wow to pay my epm bill.

I bought a mocha blanco latte in Starbucks for 16,500 pesos then took a table in the back and set up my laptop.

An hour later I still hadn’t figured out how to get an internet connection. ☹

I left at 4pm and stopped in Cine Colombia to purchase a ticket to Disclosure Day for Wednesday afternoon but there was a long line at the cashiers and the ticket machines were out of order so I just skipped it.

I stopped in Exito and bought tomatoes and eggs before returning to the apt by taxi.

I watched another episode of The Handmaid’s Tale, then The Chris Hayes Show then it was time to start my pre-sleep reading.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Sunday, June 14, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, a trip to the bathroom at 12:45, fell back asleep quickly, another trip to the bathroom at 5am, couldn’t fall back sleep, got up at 5:30, downloaded a new book and worked on my blog notes, returned to bed at 6am, finally waking/getting up at 7:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 4,968 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 35 minutes for a sleep score of 74. My sleep score seems to be gradually getting worse.

It took a while to balance my USAA checking account because of those 6 crazy transactions. I had the payments and credit reversed. Like others, I lost a few bucks on that error.

I finished season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale; two more seasons to go.

Teresa warned me that because this is a holiday weekend there will be a lot more people out. If it’s that bad we just won’t do that again.

We left the apt at 11am, pick up MT at her apt and continued on to Exposiciones station. A bus was about to leave but it was nearly full so we waited about 15 minutes for the next one and got our usual seats in the back.

The trip usually takes an hour to an hour fifteen minutes but today it was an hour and a half.

I spotted this Weber Grill store just outside El Retiro.

It was just before 2pm when we arrived at Lomo Fino and there was a short line.

When we finally got a table, both of the ladies had chicken and a glass of fresh juice while I had the solomito and a Coke for 183,000 pesos ($52.08).

We walked down to a busy El Retiro Café but got the last table, which was small with stools instead of chairs. We each had drinks and shared a slice of a not so fresh apple cake.

We left at 5pm, walked back down the hill to the bus station and soon were on a bus back to Medellin. An hour and 30 minutes later we were back at Exposiciones station. Taxis were waiting for us and we easily returned to Medellin.

I started reading James Patterson’s Cat and Mouse (Alex Cross #4) on my Kindle but it sure seemed like I had already read it. I did a search on my book list but didn’t get a hit. I searched my blog notes and found I read it May of last year. When I went back to my book list, I saw the title of a book was missing for that month, so that explains it. I’m glad it was free from Libby.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

 

Saturday, June 13, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, a trip to the bathroom at midnight, fell back asleep quickly, another trip to the bathroom at 5am, couldn’t fall back sleep, got up at 6:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 6,747 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 41 minutes for a sleep score of 76.

The final score last night was USA 4, Paraguay 1.

Teresa got up at 7:30 and made pancakes. After breakfast I went back to bed and finally slept for about another 30 minutes.

Teresa wanted to go with me to Mayorista where I buy my Badia tea so she can buy a piece (not sure what term I should use here) of salmon.

We left the apt at 12:30 and took a Didi to the restaurant Amazonia for 11,400 pesos. The restaurant was crowded but I spied a small table inside. A waitress explained there was a line but when we walked to the corner the 4 people sitting on the curb weren’t alone, around the corner were at least a dozen more. ☹

We went down the block to the Badia location but it was now Makeina and when I googled Badia, their Medellin store is permanently closed. It looks like they have domicilios (delivery to your home) if I could figure out how to use the app and pay for my tea.

Teresa bought some things in the store then I took her inside the mall and up to the 3^rd floor to the food court where she chose a restaurant with traditional Colombian food. She also got a couple containers of frijoles to go and the total check was 70mil.

We quickly caught a taxi back to the apt for 15,000 pesos.

Still no internet so I packed up my laptop and went to a not busy Gardenia. I updated my blog and completed another chess lesson. This time I won 2 games, finally the last player was strong enough that we actually played a book opening. I left at 5pm and returned to the apt.

Still no internet but I finally figured out the problem…I didn’t pay the bill I received last Saturday so I guess they only give you a 4-5 days grace period then they cut you off.

I went to the Gana kiosk and after waiting about 20 minutes for an old lady to buy all her lottery tickets I finally paid the bill. I took a walk through the park to check out the crowd and see how many restaurants were showing the current World Cup match. Now until mid-July there will probably be a game on all the time.

I talked to Juan and Glenn is in isolation with a bad virus that’s causing his coughing and they’re only allowing one visitor at a time and they have to wear a mask and robe to prevent the virus from infecting others. Tuesday or Wednesday he’s going to be discharged and they are moving him into a hospice care home in Laureles as he certainly doesn’t need a place with a gym and pool.

I see the Scottish team qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 28 years and they beat Haiti 1-0.

I finished reading Target Alex Cross by James Patterson.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Friday, June 12, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, a trip to the bathroom at 1am, fell back asleep quickly, another trip to the bathroom at 4:30, couldn’t fall back sleep, got up at 5am and read until 5:40, fell back asleep, finally waking/getting up at 7:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,052 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 7 hours and 17 minutes for a sleep score of 81.

Glenn called and thanked me for my efforts with his iPad. He asked me to give it to Juan and he will go to Monterey mall and see if they can order a battery for it. I put a post-it note on it and left it with the portero when I left the apt at 9am for the gym.

Smartfit seemed a little busier than usual. I completed my workout including 18 minutes on the treadmill with a final heartrate of 120bpm.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about an hour before returning to the apt.

After lunch I rested my eyes in bed for about 30 minutes.

I left the apt at 2:30 and stopped in Eduardo Madrid where I ordered 16 English muffins for pickup Tuesday afternoon.

I continued on to Ganso y Castor but all the inside tables were taken and it was too noisy outside to hear my chess lesson. ☹ I guess I need to skip this restaurant on the weekends as all tables were eventually taken and whenever I tried to connect to my cloud databases on ChessBase 16 it said it couldn’t connect to the server.

Nearby, Canada was playing in the World Cup but not many were paying attention to it. The USA plays Paraguay tonight at 8pm our time.

This is a short video of men cleaning the permanent umbrellas in the park or whatever they are called. Paraguas?

About 5:15 the men moved to the umbrella close to me and our waiter suggested I move. I just returned to the apt.

I found I have Wi-Fi but no internet.

I tried fixing the internet with no luck. I even tried restarting the router numerous times. I guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if its fixed and if not spend more time on solving the problem.

Thankfully, my cellphone still has internet because it uses the Claro network.

When I went to bed the USA Men’s Team had a 4-1 lead over Paraguay in their opening World Cup game.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY