Sunday, April 26, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm and woke/got up at 7am. 😊

According to my Fitbit, I got in 10,346 steps yesterday (a record) and last night I slept for 5 hours and 12 minutes.

We left the apt at 10:15 by Didi, picked up MT at her complex and continued on to Exposiciones metro station.

An El Retiro bus soon arrived and I paid 36,000 pesos for the three of us. Some seats were already taken but our preferred seats in the back were available. We arrived at El Tesoro by 12:15. Teresa found a new leather store and spent some time perusing the wares. As we left the store some raindrops started which soon turned into a light drizzle.

There was no wait in El Lomo where the ladies ordered chicken breast and I the Solomito (steak).

The check came to 171,000 pesos ($48) which I paid by debit card. It was pouring outside and Teresa was in no hurry to leave but there was a line outside so I insisted we move to El Retiro Café. I loaned the ladies my umbrella while I hugged the wall on the way to the café.

MT and I had lattes and Teresa her cold coffee (granelada?) while she worked on a bracelet and I studied my phone.

Annie James

The check was only 43,200 pesos, we left at 4pm and walked down the hill to the bus station where a bus was ready to leave. The bus became standing room only and it was an hour and 45 minutes back to Medellin. We quickly caught a taxi which returned us to Envigado for 18,000 pesos.

I caught the last episode of 60 Minutes, finished watching Apex (6.2) on Netflix then finished John Grisham’s Playing for Pizza on my Kindle. That makes 15 books I’ve read so far this year.

 

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Saturday, April 25, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at midnight, again at 4:30, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 4,867 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 3 hours and 8 minutes.

We were out of milk so I made a quick trip next door to Ara so I would have pancakes but when I returned discovered we’re out of Bisquick. ☹ Instead, I had my usual 2 scrambled eggs and an English muffin.

We received a package which contained more purse handles for her craft projects but Teresa had told me the woman who installs them is no longer doing that. I asked her why she doesn’t learn how to do it and she explained it’s more complicated than that because she uses a special machine. ☹

I left the apt at 8:45 and took a Didi to Daniel’s barbershop where I got my usual haircut.

Next to the church I found a papeleria where I printed the details of the Bears first 2 draft picks. I continued on to Todo Drogas where I purchased my medications for the coming month for 203,250 pesos ($62).

I returned to La Buena Mesa where I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about 90 minutes before returning to the apt.

Teresa was just leaving to meet her mother in Viva Envigado and she’ll call me later regarding lunch.

I hadn’t heard from Teresa so I left the apt at 2pm and around the corner encountered a baby squirrel in a tree eating something.

When he finished, he was curious enough to come down lower but wary enough not to get too close. I ended up leaving a peanut in the crook of the tree and he came down and grabbed it then moved higher and started eating it. They hold the peanut at each end with a paw and start eating in the middle.

I continued on to Clap Burger. Today they didn’t have the menus out as they had a special, something they called a Huli which was quite tasty once I removed the chicharron. (Later I confirmed with Alejandro that it was part of the annual Burger Master contest.)

Teresa called and asked me to meet her and her mother at IKEA at 5pm. At 3:30 a downpour started that lasted about an hour. I returned to the apt for a minute then continued on to the mall.

In IKEA I didn’t see them so I went up to the 2^nd floor and took a seat in the restaurant. I called Teresa and she asked me to meet them in Crepes & Waffles. I found them at a table in the back. They each had a shrimp crepe plate and I, being full, just had a glass of water.

When they finished, and I went through the usual delay in getting and paying for the check, we walked outside and quickly caught a taxi. We dropped MT off at La Bahia and continued on to our apt.

I started watching a movie called Apex (6.2) on Netflix. At 8:45 I turned it off and started my pre-sleep reading and went to bed at 10pm.

 

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Friday, April 24, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, took a while to fall asleep, got up once at 12:30, took a while to fall asleep, got up again at 3:15, finally woke up at 5:45 and got up at 6am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 7,013 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 15 minutes.

After breakfast, at 8:15 I set an alarm for 45 minutes and returned to bed for a nap and slept for about 30 minutes.

I left the apt at 9am and around the corner encountered a baby squirrel in the bushes. He looked at me holding a peanut and was curious but too skittish to take it. I left a single kernel peanut in the bush for it to find.

I was a little surprised Smartfit was so busy this morning. I had to occasionally wait or change the order of my routine but still completed all my exercises including 21 minutes on the treadmill at 5 ½ kph.

I won a game vs Troyclough on the 13^th move, increasing my rating to 1529.

Daniel finally timed out on our game he was losing, increasing my rating to 1530.

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

After lunch I discovered the Pat McAfee show on ESPN and watched quite a bit of that, occasionally switching to the news.

Teresa got a massage from Kelly from 4-5pm. Teresa reported that Kelly’s vision is much poorer now from her diabetes complication.

I tuned in to the draft before the 6pm start. The Bears selected Logan Jones, C, from Iowa for their 57^th pick. They moved down from the 60^th to 69^th pick to add another draft slot where they selected Sam Roush, TE, from Stanford. I turned off the TV at 8:30 and started my pre-sleep reading during which the Bears selected Zavion Thomas, WR, from LSU.

 

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Thursday, April 23, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 12:30, fell asleep quickly, got up again at 5:30, went back to bed but soon got up at 6am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 7,556 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 29 minutes.

I left the apt at 8:30 and stopped at the Bancolombia kiosk to reprint my chess games, this time both sides. I continued on to VitaminFit (Carrera 41 #35sur-28) and arrived at 9am just as the girl was raising the overhead door. I bought a larger container, 1#, of Creatine Monohydrate and a different brand, Nutricost, for 139,000 pesos.

I continued on to a tienda naturista where I purchased a bottle of Omega 3 for 46,400 pesos. I stopped in Exito and bought the Alpina crema de leche Teresa requested. I returned to La Buena Mesa where I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about 90 minutes before returning to the apt.

I won a game vs Troyclough in 22 moves, increasing my rating to 1526. I played Chesswiz98 to a draw, lowering my rating to 1524.

I left the apt at 3pm and had a latte in Gardenia while going over my games against Jose. In the next room a lot of old ladies were having a birthday party.

Annie James in her new bathing suit, getting ready for summer.

I left at 4:30 and returned to the apt.

I killed some time until the 2026 NFL Draft started at 7pm. I found it on the ESPN channel on Medellin TV. This year each team was given only 8 minutes for their selection and things moved along nicely. As each player was taken, I crossed their name off my Top 100 list.

The Chicago Bears, with the 25^th pick in the draft, chose Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman. I stayed up until the end so my list would be up-to-date and I ended up going to bed at 10:30, without benefit of my pre-sleep routine.

 

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Wednesday, April 22 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 1am, took a while to fall back asleep, got up again at 5:30, went back to bed but soon got up at 6am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 7,450 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 3 hours and 53 minutes.

Teresa and I agreed to meet outside Crepes & Waffles in Mayorca at 1pm for lunch.

It was just after 8am and I had put on my gym clothes and was putting on my shoes while sitting on the bed. It occurred to me the gym was going to be really crowded at this hour and my eyes felt tired. I laid down on the bed careful to keep my shoes off it. About 10 minutes later Teresa came in and I told her “solo unos minutos”. Then I quickly fell asleep and woke up 30 minutes later. I left the apt at 8;45 and found Smartfit about as busy as usual for this time. I completed my workout including 21 minutes on the treadmill at 5 ½ kph.

I walked across a busy Ave Poblado (and probably will be for months while under construction) and on to Ganso y Castor. At one point I noticed I couldn’t wag my right foot up and down. I’m guessing I was pinching a nerve sitting on the chair because after I shifted my weight and moved it around a bit it was fine. I had a latte for about an hour, bought a banana as I left and returned to the apt.

I left the apt at 12:15 and took a Didi to Mayorca mall. I recycled a couple eyedrop bottles, printed my chess games at a little store in the basement then took the elevator up to the 4^th floor where I met Teresa in Olivia.

She had some chicken plate special while I had the lasagna mixta (chicken and ground beef). I had a mango juice and she had a pineapple juice for a total of 123,026 pesos, including tip.

Well, the dollar has fallen against the peso for the past year, guess whose fault that is?

We returned to Envigado by taxi and Teresa got out just down the hill from the cultural center and I got out just down the street from Los Porteños. I tried replacing the bracelet for my Fitbit but it appears there’s a part missing, 2 small metal spring pins. The bag was open at the top and they could have fallen out anywhere including the shipping bag I threw away or when Teresa opened the package before me. ☹

I reviewed my games with Jose even though I forgot to bring my yellow highlighter.

After a couple hours I didn’t feel like waiting a couple more hour to meet Teresa so I returned to the apt. I left at 5:15 and only had a 15-minute wait for her to arrive at Eduardo Madrid. We shared a cheese croissant and latte and on the way back to the apt stopped in Ara for some groceries. I found a young man working there that spoke some English with good pronunciation – so far.

I watched some news before starting my pre-sleep routine.

 

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Tuesday, April 21 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 2:15, fell back asleep quickly, got up again at 5:45, went back to bed until my alarm went off at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,425 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 19 minutes.

I left the apt just after 8:15 and arrived at Unicentro mall 20 minutes before 9 for 16,400 pesos. I bought a banana for 1,000 pesos and walked twice around the outside of the mall.

I met Jose in Parmessano where we had our usual breakfast. My French toast with a side of scrambled eggs, a latte and a bottle of water to go comes to 55,000 pesos.

We moved to the food court where I had the Black pieces in the first game. I got a strong attack against him but again ended with a draw. (The computer had me winning and showed me the one move I made a little too quickly that threw away my win.)

We were just starting the second game when I got a cramp in my left thigh. Jose suggested I see a doctor about that because it was when he got a calf cramp that a blood clot went to his lungs leading to his heart attack. ☹ Yikes!

For the second game it was close until the middle game where he found a way to break through and I lost.

It was about 2pm we finished and I ordered a Didi to take me to Viva Envigado for 22,000 pesos For the first time in a long time the driver took the back streets (accident on the expressway?) and it took about 45 minutes.

I had the chicken teriyaki with a Pepsi in Sarku’s.

Today for some reason the salad didn’t taste the same so I didn’t finish it.

I went down to Urbania and had a latte for about an hour. Teresa called and asked me to pick up Fab in Ara. I left at 4pm

And withdrew 2,000,000 pesos (all 50s) from the ATM outside Exito. Finally today asked for help from an Exito employee to find the Mexican salsa for my fajitas. Even they couldn’t find it or the store was out of stock. I bought a few imported oranges, a large pack of toilet paper and a 9-volt battery and had to wait in a long slow line to pay. I returned to the apt by taxi.

I dropped everything off then went to Eduardo Madrid where I picked up my order of 16 bagels, stopped in Ara where I bought green apples for Teresa, a package of Fab laundry detergent and a bag of milk.

In the porteria, Julio handed me my package which contained my new Fitbit strap, a Kindle cover and my “missing” scissors.

Teresa wants us to go to Ikea and buy the full-length mirror she saw a year ago and new place mats for the dining room table. She said that’s not because we’re going to have a visitor. (Vickey, Laura’s friend, is supposed to stay with us a couple nights early next month.) Yeah, right! She also mentioned getting rid of one of our three beds. If we did, that would probably give her space where she could work on her craft projects.

About 7:15 a downpour started and we soon had lightning and I had to unplug everything.

I had the computer do a tactical analysis on each of today’s games and I’ll print and review them tomorrow.

I watched some news, then started reading my next John Grisham novel.

 

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Monday, April 20, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 3:30, fell back asleep quickly, awakened at 4:15 by a small cramp in my right calf, got back to sleep quickly, woke up at 5:30 and got up at 6:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 1,261 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 58 minutes.

I left the apt at 8:30 and found Smartfit not very busy today. Since I didn’t get to the gym last week, I reduced my weights by 10# and just did my 21 minutes on the treadmill at 5 ½ kph. Today the Abdominal Crunch machine was working so it was nice to be able to add that back in my routine.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about 90 minutes. I observed 2-3 people carrying large, but not heavy, Fokuss (the lighting store) boxes down the hill of the park. I’m guessing a local delivery of lamps.

I stopped in Eduardo Madrid and ordered 16 English muffins for pickup tomorrow afternoon.

I stopped in Ara and bought a package of lettuce for our lunch but had to wait in a slow line.

At 3:30 Teresa and I took a Didi to a parking garage across from the Dollar City on Calle 37 sur where she picked up an old purse left from her friend Ana. Across the street she checked out Dollar City “because they are all different’ (to me they are all the same) but didn’t find anything. Outside we quickly caught a taxi that we planned to take to Gardenia for coffee but because there were a few raindrops we just returned to the apt.

I finished season 2 of The End of Us but now I have to wait until 2027 for season 3. ☹

I watched some news, including the first half of The Rachel Maddow Show then finished reading John Grisham’s The Brethren

 

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