Saturday, April 18, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm fell asleep quickly, got up once at 1am, fell back asleep quickly, woke up but didn’t get up at 4am, fell back asleep quickly, finally waking at 6am and got up with Teresa at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,182 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 11 minutes.

I left the apt at 8:45 and walked to the mall. I recycled a pill bottle then went up to the banking area and withdrew 2,000,000 pesos, all 100s. ☹

I went down to Urbania and had a latte while going over my endgame book. I read an article about Chicago’s O’Hare airport being more congested this summer. ☹

I left at 11am and checked the tienda naturista upstairs for my preferred brand of Omega-3 capsules

but they didn’t have it.

I stopped in Auros and printed Dane Brugler’s (The Athletic) NFL Draft Guide Top 100. This is so I can “keep score” of the NFL Draft next Thursday and Friday nights.

I stopped in Exito and bought a large carton of eggs before returning to the apt by taxi.

After dropping off the groceries I went next door to Ara and bought dishwashing paste and a few bananas.

I left the apt at 2:30 and had a latte in a pretty busy Gardenia. About 4pm my table was hit by the sun and I eventually was able to take a table more inside.

Teresa texted and asked me to pick up coconut Gelato. I left at 5:15 and got in line at a busy Antonio’s Gelato. It was only 30,000 pesos for a half liter of coconut gelato. Somebody may have messed up because I thought it used to be closer to 50,000 pesos.

I returned to the apt and we each had a small bowl of coconut gelato.

I finished season 1 of The End of Us on Stremio then started my pre-sleep routine.

The plan for tomorrow is for us to have breakfast somewhere in the Manila neighborhood of Poblado.

 

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Friday, April 17, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 2am, fell asleep quickly, finally waking at 6am and got up with Teresa at 7:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,479 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 55 minutes. Very good!

Breakfast at the hotel. Today I tried the waffles con chocolo with scrambled eggs and bacon. Not too bad.

I found another article from Bob Burford about Gracie Slick and posted it.

Teresa surprised me by asking if I wanted to check out today and return to Medellin. I told her, “No”, I’ve already paid for another night.

I see the same 3 guys still here so they must have stayed overnight. Also, there is a couple with 2 young girls having breakfast.

Per Amazon, Teresa’s purse handles are scheduled to arrive next Saturday, April 25^th.

About 10:15 we showered and dressed and followed Clare, the owner, to her other location 2 ½ blocks away called Casa Al Alma. The space is large, perfect for a large family.

We returned to our room.

I was sitting on the bed when Teresa called out “scorpion” and pointed to something next to my gym shoes. All I could see was a dark blob and it wasn’t moving so I took my cellphone and turned on my magnifying glass app which included a flashlight and this is what I saw:

Of course, these photos were taken after I had smashed it 3 times with one of my flip flops. With that, I changed my mind and we decided to return to Medellin today, one day early.

I paid the bill for our meals other than breakfast of 839,868 pesos ($233) including 10% for tips, we packed and walked ½ block to a different Jumaye where we had lunch, salmon for Teresa and chicken breast for me, plus two Cokes came to 110,550 pesos, including tip. A children’s religious procession came by in the street.

We left at 4:30 and walked down the hill and caught a bus just about to leave for Medellin for 20,000 per person.

We arrived at Terminal Norte just before 6pm. Teresa asked someone about catching a Tratam bus to Envigado but they only leave from Terminal Sur. We walked to the metro and only had a 5-minute wait for a train. In Ayura station there was a short line for a taxi but I ordered a Didi to take us back to our complex.

We unpacked, I watched a little news on Medellin TV then started my pre-sleep routine.

 

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BOB BURFORD

 Grace Slick -- It was the mid-1970s, I had moved back to the Bay Area from Reno and was living in San Jose. A friend of mine lived in the Sunset District of The City. I had planned to meet him at his house at noon. I got there an hour early because I hadn’t factored into my schedule that it was a Sunday. There’s no traffic on Sunday, so I made it there in record time. 

I parked in front of a tropical fish and aquarium store a couple of blocks away and got settled in for an hour’s wait. The fish store was open but nary a single customer entered. After getting thoroughly bored, I decided to go into the fish store just to look around. There weren’t very many stores along that stretch of the street; maybe three or four buildings in that block with vacant lots in between. It is primarily a residential neighborhood.

A twenty-something young man offered to help me but I told him I was just killing time. Apparently he had nothing better to do because he began telling me about his fish in detail. Beautifully colored salt-water fish, some eight or ten inches long. Uncommonly brilliant colors. As we were touring the store, a very attractive, gregarious, well-put-together young lady walked in and joined our tour. Introducing ourselves, she said she was Grace Slick. I recognized the name, but only vaguely. If she had been a jazz vocalist I certainly would have known her. But Jefferson Airplane? Not so much. The likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Carmen McRae, Anita O’Day, etc. do it for me.

Grace was actually interested in the fish and asked some very interesting questions that never would have occurred to me to ask. The guy showing us around the store offered to come down to San Jose and set up a salt-water aquarium for me. I was intrigued. If you know what you’re doing, after about nine months you’ll have a colorful array of fish that doesn’t require feeding; they survive on their own in the mini oceanic ecosystem they’ve created.

 

Time had evaporated and the clock was showing twelve noon. I asked the store clerk if there were any restaurants in the neighborhood. That’s when Grace asked me if I’d be interested in crossing The (Golden Gate) Bridge and having lunch at a “hip little restaurant” with a great Sunday buffet. It sounded like a great idea to me so we hopped in my car and headed for Sausalito. I really can’t remember if the restaurant was in Sausalito, Mill Valley, Tiburon … some­where thereabouts. But she was absolutely correct, I think. The buffet was scrumptious. But that could have been my lady companion, too. Her obvious intellect and very cool personality could make peanut butter and crackers a memorable gourmet event. It was obvious she was definitely a lady of substance.

Anyway, it occurred to me that she obviously had a car left parked on the street near the fish store so I assumed I would be taking her back into the city for her car. “No, I’ll have someone pick it up.” And that was the beginning and end of that issue. Instead, she gave me directions to her house where I dropped her off. We said our goodbyes and that was that. After that, I listened to Grace Slick every chance I got. It was a veritable awakening.

 

Given the quality and nature of her voice, I can’t not help but wonder what she would do with some traditional jazz standards such as “Midnight Sun,” “Something Cool,” “Georgia,” “Darn that Dream,” etc. I’m thinking of Rod Stewart doing a full-blown big band album of jazz standards. It was the first of a few he did and it won for him his only Grammy, very well deserved. Barry Manilow was afraid to ask traditional jazz players to play on a jazz album he wanted to make. At his manager’s suggestion, they made a call to a jazz legend who was eager to do the project. The album went gold. Several artists of that era dove into the big band jazz thing and never looked back. I’m of the opinion such an album by Grace Slick would be something to behold; y’know, powerful voice done gently. [Excerpt from my "Anecdotes" book available on amazon.com]

Thursday, April 16, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, took a while to fall asleep, got up once at 2:45, took a while to fall back asleep, finally waking at 5:45 and got up at 7:30 with Teresa.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5.290 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 5 hours and 27 minutes. Pretty good!

Today Annie James is 7 months old.

For breakfast I tried the pancakes and they came with honey not maple syrup – no surprise there.

After breakfast I walked down to the Bancolombia office we saw last night. I asked a policeman standing at the corner and he pointed me to the same location. Inside I gave the woman 107,000 pesos and my Innovation Corp information and she quickly made the deposit and gave me a receipt which I photocopied and sent to IC in Bogota.

So, this week Teresa is spending more time working on her next purse than sunbathing so I guess she just wanted some calm place where she could relax and work.

Well, I took a dip in the pool and found another ripe mango on the stairs leading out of the pool. Teresa gave it to the muchacho and he cut it up into slices and it was delicious.

Teresa wanted some new purse handles so we found a few inexpensive ones on Amazon that we could have delivered directly to Envigado.

For lunch Teresa ordered the posta (flank steak). I asked if she would finish it or wanted to share it with me. I ordered something simple (a granola bowl) so I could share her steak but they didn’t have granola. Instead, I ordered a ham & cheese sandwich which was so delicious I wasn’t interested in helping her with her steak.

I balanced my USAA checking account. Reviewing my transactions it appears they don’t charge 1% for ATM withdrawals and they refund Davivienda’s ATM fees so I might be better off paying for most (at least inexpensive) things here in cash.

After lunch Teresa returned to our room for a nap.

My feet still feel a little swollen. Every hour or so I get up and walk around a bit so blood doesn’t pool in them. I think it might have something to do with the stiff straight chair I’m sitting in.

I got tired of searching for my cursor so I went to Settings and changed it to purple.

Three guys came in and had lunch then hung around by the pool drinking wine (2 bottles).

We left the hotel about 6pm and checked out some restaurants downtown. We found Santorini and maybe we’ll have supper there tomorrow night. Teresa took me to a pizza place – really – where we got half margarita and whatever she wanted for the other half. 

We each had a Coke and the check came to about 90mil.

Teresa stopped in a couple shops and talked to the saleslady about her purses. In one she bought a purse for 110,000 pesos that I understand she’s going to decorate.

 

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Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 4:15, took a while to fall back asleep, finally waking at 6am and got up at 7am with Teresa.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 4,454 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 5 hours and 52 minutes. Pretty good!

We left our room at 8:15 and checked out the restaurants in the park for breakfast. Only one seemed to be serving food and Teresa inquired about something and I guess she didn’t like the answer because we left. I led her across the street to Jimaye (sp?) but it wasn’t open. We returned to our hotel and had breakfast there.

I tried something different a Colombian costa (sp?)  coastal breakfast called Mix de Fritos Caribeños

It was okay, nothing I would order again and it confirmed I’m not a fan of yucca.

Innovation Corp contacted me about my package. It will be 107,000 pesos or $25 if I use Paypal.

Had a problem linking my USAA debit card to my Paypal account. Apparently, there’s something Microsoft Edge is auto filling that Paypal doesn’t like. I’ll deal with it later.

They fixed the toilet by the pool but when I flushed it, it kept running. They probably need a new flapper as this one doesn’t seal properly. I’ll tell the owner next time I see her.

We seem to be the only ones staying at the hotel this week so we have the pool to ourselves.

Every day, it seems, a ripe mango falls from the tree into the pool and I retrieve it for us to eat later.

For lunch we shared the same sandwich as yesterday.

Teresa and I both noticed my feet looked swollen. They even felt different, a little warm and swollen. They felt better when I got up and walked around a bit.

Well, another couple is now staying at the hotel. They have a room right off the patio next to the pool.

This week I’ve won 2 games against Chesswiz98 and one against Troyclough, increasing my rating to 1531.

I added another game and Chess.com paired me with a 400 rated player from Portugal named IsaqueG1. (I think the significance of that number is a player that is playing correspondence chess for the first time.) He turned out to be pretty strong (I had my chances) and beat me, increasing his rating by 62 points to 1021 and lowering mine by 14 to 1517. ☹

For supper we went to Jumaye where Teresa had trout and I my usual chicken breast for a total of 88,500 pesos ($25).

We walked down to Tienda D1 where Teresa bought some inexpensive body cream for 13,500 pesos.

She stepped into a tienda de artesenal where she got a business card from an employee as she may be able to sell some purses there.

I looked around for a Bancolombia consignacion ATM but only found a branch office that was closed.

We returned to our room and got ready for bed.

This is the first McDonald’s that opened in Des Plaines, IL. I walked past it twice every workday for a year or two in the early 70s.

 

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Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, took a long time to fall asleep, was awakened about 1:15 by bile coming up my throat, I sat up and coughed it down, took a Tums, made a trip to the toilet and went back to bed, again took a long time to fall asleep, finally waking at 6am and getting up at 7am.

Teresa got up at 7:15.

I found the control for the A/C so we won’t freeze again tonight.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 2,746 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 17 minutes. What? That was my worst night of sleeping in the past few days and it says I slept so long? ☹

We left the hotel and walked around a bit. We’re 2 ½ blocks form the main park. Only one restaurant was open and I guess Teresa wasn’t impressed. We walked down a block where Teresa pointed out a gym. A personal trainer informed us we could use the gym for 90,000 pesos a day but I wasn’t impressed with the equipment and it was very crowded.

We continued on to Hosteria de la Plaza Menor where we’ve visited many times before. 

Teresa talked to the “gate keeper” like we were new there and he gave us a quick tour of the main level. He had a basket of mangos that had recently fallen from their tree and he gifted Teresa a couple very ripe ones.

We returned to the hotel where we had breakfast

This time French toast for me but they didn’t serve maple syrup, only cream cheese.

I went to use the toilet in the restroom by the pool but it wouldn’t flush. I took off the top of the tank and the handle was no longer attached to the flapper. I lifted the flapper manually and the toilet flushed and I reported the problem to the owner.

This interesting flower (seed?) falls occasionally from the tree next to the pool:

Well, today we finally have a sunny day, at least partly sunny not overcast like yesterday.

My Fitbit is supposed to be waterproof down to xx meters and I had no problem with it in the pool.

For lunch we shared this Peruvian sandwich.

After supper we went a block away to a small restaurant where Teresa purchased a lighter for 2500 pesos.

I turned on the A/C and changed the temp from 17 Celsius to 20 Celsius.

Teresa was tired so she went to bed at 9pm and I followed closer to 9:45.

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Monday, April 13, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 4am, fell back asleep quickly, finally waking at 7am but waited an hour for Teresa to get up.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 2,755 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 33 minutes. I don’t think the Fitbit is very accurate when it comes to sleeping.

We had our free breakfast by the pool. I ordered the Bagel Breakfast but I don’t see any bagel here:

😊

So far, it’s an overcast day so Teresa is working on a purse while I write up my blog and continue my online chess games.

Last night we were surprised our door only had a regular lock, no additional deadbolt or chain lock so Teresa put a chair up against the door. 😊

We had lunch on the patio next to the pool. Teresa had some Cuban sandwich and since I knew she would want me to help I just ordered a granola bowl with acai berries and yogurt for myself.

I finally took a dip in the pool in the afternoon.

It was around 4:30 when Teresa said, “Look, a ripe mango fell in the pool”. I retrieved it …

Here’s it’s already partly eaten (by us). It was sweet but I didn’t realize they were so messy and sticky to eat by hand. 😊

In the evening we heard what sounded like live jazz music nearby, like just the other side of the wall by the pool.

I had pasta al Fredo with garlic bread;

And Teresa had posta (flank steak) Cartagena style

I found a stack of old paperback books in our room; this one has a 1943 copyright. 😊

Probably the type of books my uncles would read; I think my dad would read something a little more substantial and he was a prolific reader. I recall Saturdays stopping in the library and he would check out 3-4 books to read for the week. I was reading Jim Kjelgaard’s books, mainly about dogs and the wilderness.

 

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