Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, got up once during the night, finally awakened by alarm at 6:30. Drat, I forgot to turn off my alarm.

I requested Capital One 360 to transfer the balance of my checking account to my USAA checking account.

I left the apt just before 9am and walked to the mall. I withdrew 2 million pesos using my USAA debit card then went down to Urbania where I had a latte with a glass of ice water.

I left just before 11am and stopped in Exito to buy a few more imported oranges, a bag of milk and large carton of eggs then returned to the apt by taxi.

Teresa has been giving me a Colombian fruit called pitahaya that’s supposed to help regulate me. (It’s basically tasteless but contains lots of small seeds.) So far nothing’s happening.

I tried ordering a Didi for 10,000 pesos to take us to Santafe mall but the only driver that responded wanted 14,500 pesos. Finally, Teresa suggested we have lunch in Palo Grande so I cancelled the request. We had the lunch of the day in Palo Grande which was meatballs, a small salad, rice, a bowl of vegetable soup, and a drink.

We walked across the street and soon were in a taxi to Santafe mall.

Teresa went to Zara to exchange her blouse while I went down to Valentina’s for a latte.

Later Esmeralda joined us and she brought me the 4 boxes of zopiclone tablets for 104,000 pesos, that should last me 8-9 months if I can continue to take half doses.

We were sitting there at one point and we could hear a downpour hit the skylight 4 floors above us but it only lasted about 5 minutes.

We hung around until 7pm so traffic would lessen. We walked outside and across the street to Pan Americana where Esmeralda used Didi to order a motorcycle to take her home.

Outside Oviedo we caught a Sabaneta bus to take us back to Envigado.

It finally occurred to me I can’t close my Capital One account until I’m sure my SS is successfully being deposited in my USAA account.

 

I watched The Chris Hayes Show, then read a bit and went to bed at 10pm.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Monday, February 2, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 9:15, got up several times during the night, can’t say I slept well but we’ll see.

Teresa returned from her gym class at 7:30 and made breakfast. After breakfast I went back to bed for maybe an hour.

Happy Birthday, Papa Bear!

After conferring with ChatGPT again it appears my best option might be to open a Fidelity Cash Management Account when I’m in Chicago in September.

I understand Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so there will be 6 more weeks of winter.

I vegged out the rest of the day on the recliner. Having just finished the book, I watched the first four episodes of Fool Me Once on Netflix.

We had rain off and on throughout the day. When it wasn’t raining, we heard jackhammers breaking up the old sidewalk down the street.

 

I watched The Rachel Maddow Show, then read a bit and went to bed at 10:30.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

 

Sunday, February 1, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, again at 5am, then tried to get back to sleep. When I looked at my clock, expecting it to be 6am, it was 7am so I guess I must have fallen back asleep at some point,

Just read a long comment from Expat, “Generally, Fidelity does not allow new customers who are currently residing outside the United States to open a Cash Management Account (CMA).”. That’s the same problem I had with Capital One 360. I confirmed it with ChatGPT.

After breakfast Teresa wants to go to Santafe mall because she needs to exchange a blouse she bought in Zara.

I ordered a birthday present for my son.

We left the apt at 8:30 and walked to Sao Paulo Plaza where we found Glenn with Bianca waiting for us.

Teresa asked about ordering hearing aids from the US and having them adjusted here. He didn’t recommend that for various reasons. He recommended she see Angelica Maria Bustamante 350 298-1956 in the Ophthalmology clinic (a block from Premium Plaza) of Medellin. He’s scheduled to get an electrocardiogram for his heart.

We left at 10am and since Teresa forgot to bring the blouse she wanted to exchange in Zara, we just walked back to the apt in a few raindrops.

NOW’S WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED

I’ve had some minor intestinal discomfort the past few days but today it got much worse with cramps. I would spend a few minutes on the toilet then a few minutes walking around. Teresa tried a number of different remedies on me: drink water, drink aromatica, drink a tablespoon of olive oil with lemon, but nothing worked, After 3 hours of that I finally decided we should go to the clinic. I got dressed and we took a Didi to Clinica Las Vega. We took a number and Teresa took a seat but I couldn’t sit down comfortably. I made a trip to the restroom but it was occupied. When our turn came we got registered. Back out in the waiting room we waited to be called again. This was triage and I understood they couldn’t handle this problem so they sent us to Hospital Pablo Tobon Uribe which I’ve heard from some gringos is the best hospital in Medellin. It’s also pretty far away as evidenced by the 22,000 pesos I paid for a Didi to take us there – on a Sunday.

Pretty much a repeat of the process from the clinic. This is a quick video of the waiting room:

After triage where they checked my blood pressure, Oxygen with one of those finger things, and temperature I made a trip to the restroom and FINALLY pooped and felt much better. Soon it was our turn to speak to a general practitioner, in English, and he palpitated my abdomen. He recommended 3 medications (one for pain) and said I should return if the pain gets worse, I have a fever or vomiting. We waited about 5 minutes at billing only to find out the cost was 0 pesos because we have medical insurance (nueve eps which costs about $50 a month for the two of us).

Downstairs we stopped at their pharmacy where we picked up 3 medications for less than 100,000 pesos ($25).

Outside we quickly were in a taxi back to Envigado for 34,000 pesos.

Teresa was hungry so we stopped at Chiclayo but their kitchen was closing so we went a few feet more to Black Pepper. We took a table in front of a TV that played some nice music videos. Teresa had ribs (I ate one with some vegetables and mashed potatoes) and a Coke.

We got back to the apt in time that I could watch the first segment of 60 Minutes.

I finished my Kindle book, Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben.

I went to bed at 9:15.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6am. How regular is that?

More photos of Annie James

Some surprises ahead!

After breakfast I took a 20-minute nap then got dressed and ordered my Didi.

I got my usual haircut at Daniel’s barbershop for 50mil, including tip.

I checked google maps for Todo Drogas and it said it was closed permanently!?

That’s a surprise, then again it is a new year.

I checked google maps for Plaza de Mercado Envigado which is across the street from Todo Drogas. It’s a 10-minute walk which would equal the time I would need to order a Didi, be accepted as a ride, arrive, and take me there so I walked it.

Todo Drogas was open and I ordered my usual monthly medications and was told something about Zopiclona not being available. It sounded more serious than just being “out of stock” so I had it translated:

I understand now you need a doctor’s prescription to get it.  I stopped at a couple other pharmacies but was told they didn’t have it. (I thought I might be able to get a couple boxes, but it’s not like it’s out of stock.)

I stopped in Banco Caja Social and withdrew 1,500,000 pesos. (USAA reimburses foreign ATM fees but there’s a monthly limit so I wanted to get one in for January.)

I continued on to Ganso y Castor for a latte but I didn’t hang around long because it was busy and I didn’t want to hog an outside table. Btw, their lattes went up to 12,000 pesos, 13,200 including tip.

I asked ChatGPT about a sleep aid and it recommended 0.5-3mg of melatonin. I was taking 3mg of melatonin for some time, only stopping recently (a year or two ago?).

I returned to the apt and gave Teresa the bad news. She called Esmeralda who apparently knows a pharmacy where she can get medications without a prescription so we’ll see. I checked my last box and I have 25 pills remaining so I’ll probably cut them in half and see how that works for me.

Teresa says we have no food so we’ll probably be going out for lunch.

At 1:30 I ordered a Didi to take us to El Correo for 18,200 pesos. Teresa had the pollo faruk (Peruvian chicken) and I the steak pimienta (pepper steak) with a baked potato and we each had a Coke for a total of 186,943 pesos including tip. I tried paying for it with my debit card but it got declined twice by the girl and once by me (they let me see what’s entered into the machine) so I paid in cash.

I suggested we go somewhere for coffee but Teresa hadn’t brought her bracelet work with her and she was afraid we’d get trapped by rain.

I ordered a Didi to return us to the apt for 20,400 pesos.

I received a call from an unknow caller but I answered it because it was from the US (+1). I figured it would be the Chicago Tribune calling again to hassle me about a subscription but it was my USAA bank’s fraud department. I was on hold for about 20 minutes before an actual operator came on. For some reason my debit card triggered a fraud alert. They confirmed my identity and my most recent transactions and they unfroze my card.

I ended up hanging around the apt the rest of the day and evening watching the news.

I made plans to meet Glenn for breakfast tomorrow. Teresa wants to go with me to ask him some questions about hearing aids.

Esmeralda managed to get 4 boxes of Zopiclona for me, which, if I manage properly should last me for the next 8-9 months.

I took half a Zopiclona and my usual Diphenhydramine and went to bed at 10pm.

 

 

 

 

 

Today I forgot to put on my step counter so I don’t have a step count.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

 

Friday, January 30, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, got up once during the night, finally waking at 5:15 and getting up at 5:45.

After breakfast I took a nap for about an hour.

I left the apt about 9am and found Smartfit back to its usual busyness so I had to alter my routine slightly. I completed 18 minutes on the treadmill with no side pain. 😊

I moved to Ganso y Castor where I had a latte for about an hour.

I’m using ChatGPT to try to find a US bank that will issue me a debit card I can use here without a foreign transaction fee.

I returned to the apt.

Teresa says we have no food for lunch, and because of her cold she wants me to have lunch at Asados Rogelio and get an order to bring back for her.

I left the apt at noon and had a nice lunch in Asados Rogelio and got an order to go for Teresa for $63,800 pesos ($17.50), no tip included.

I left again right away and had a latte in Los Porteños. I spent some time discussing US debit cards with ChatGPT and it appears a Fidelity Cash Management Account should be perfect for me. Some details:

I’m going to wait until my next SS deposit appears before signing up for an account.

A downpour started at 4pm and lasted about half an hour. I stopped in Ara on the way back to the apt and bought 4 red gala apples for myself.

 

Today I completed 5,688 steps.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10:15, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

You may have noticed I haven’t been posting my step count for a while. That’s because my step counter seemed to have disappeared a few days before we left for the DR. I just discovered Teresa packed a pair of my shorts for our trip and the step counter was still attached to them. 😊 Mystery solved!

I left the apt at 8:15 and walked to the mall. I recycled a couple items then went up to the banking area. Av Villas was open (they open at 8am) and there was only one other person in line so I was able to quickly pay the rent for February. I went down the hall to Bancolombia and quickly used the consignacion function to pay for our rent, gym, health insurance, and Medellin TV.

I went down to Urbania and while having a latte I realized I forgot to pick up a new banking form for next month (luckily, I have an extra back in the apt) and forgot to withdraw cash. I sent screenshots of my receipts to the proper recipients. Teresa texted and asked me to pick up broccoli and milk so we can make soup. I left about 10:30 and went back up to the banking area. My Capital One 360 debit card was rejected twice in two different ATMs so I’ll probably be cancelling my account. I was really surprised when my USAA debit card didn’t work. I stopped in Exito and bought a number of items before returning to the apt by taxi.

I called USAA and I had to reset the pin in order for the new card to work. (Even though I used it the other day in Pricesmart and Crepes & Waffles; probably because it didn’t ask for my pin.) The rep walked me through the process and I set it to my usual pin number.

I spent 30 minutes talking to a rep at Capital One and even though she shared a Discover/Diners Club map that shows 100% acceptance for Colombia, obviously it doesn’t work here so I’ll be canceling this account. Any of my readers have an idea for a US bank I can use here with a debit card? And Charles Schwab is not an acceptable answer. Been there, tried that.

Victor from Innovation Corp called and we had a long talk about my two missing packages. (Christmas presents sent from my daughter back on December 1^st and supposedly delivered by USPS on December 15^th.) Apparently, they have lots of problems with USPS deliveries and he recommends packages only be sent using UPS.

Workers have finished the sidewalk outside Ara and Tienda D1.

Now they’re working on improving it from there to the corner of the street.

I spent the rest of the day watching the news.

 

Today I completed 3,948 steps.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

QUOTES OF THE DAY

 

“They showed the movie MELANIA on my flight this weekend and three people walked out.” 😊

“MELANIA has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography for the FIFA Oscars.

 

 

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10:15, got up several times during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

I had a short nap after breakfast then left the apt at 8:45 for Smartfit. I ran into Michael right away and learned he returns to the gym for another workout around noon.

They gym has televisions above the treadmills and I occasionally thought I saw the name George Halas come up. Today I finally caught it in time to take this photo:

Later ChatGPT translated it to, “No one who has given their best has ever regretted it.” – George Halas. So, they know who George Halas is in Colombia? Incredible.

I also noticed an ad on television for my brand of creatine so I’ll have to check out.

It will probably be powder rather than the capsules I bought.

I walked to Ganso y Castor and had a latte at my usual table at the end of the row. A young man of 35 or so was sitting 3 tables away. I could hear him speaking English with a woman on his phone. I could occasionally hear things like “an egg contains 2 grams of protein”, and “you should eat some protein an hour after your workout”. I figured he must be in the fitness nutrition business.

When I finally noticed he was off the phone I tried to get his attention, “hello” and “where are you from?” but he either couldn’t hear me or was too engrossed in his phone. I made a screenshot of this book:

and walked over to his table and held out my cellphone and said, “I don’t know if you can’t hear me or are ignoring me but have you read this book?” He stood up and said, “get the fuck out of my face”. I said, “Wow!”, walked back to my table, picked up my thermos and workout book and left immediately, returning to the apt.

Teresa wanted to go to her crafts course again this afternoon but learned there won’t be any classes until February 11^th.

I left the apt at 1:45 and walked to Gardenia where I had a latte. No other customers were there but a few came in later. About 3pm thunder could be heard and it got noticeably windier and cooler. I left at 3:30 in a light shower and returned to the apt.

Kelly arrived about 4:30 to give Teresa a massage. The sun was shining and I wanted to leave but it was still raining, although lightly. Finally, about 4:30 it cleared and I walked to Antonio’s where I bought half a liter of pistachio gelato. I continued on to Eduardo Madrid where I picked up the 16 English muffins I ordered plus a slice of carrot cake for Teresa.

I returned to the apt and Kelly had already left.

I lost a game to chesswiz98 in 40 moves, lowering my rating to 1542.

I watched news the rest of the evening, mainly CNN’s Town Hall in Minneapolis.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY