Friday, March 29, 2024

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 3:30, finally waking/getting up at 6:15.

Today is a holiday, Maundy Thursday.

I met Marcos at 9:30 sitting in La Buena Mesa. He said Parva wasn’t open yet so we had coffee in Ganso y Castor. He resolved his apt situation by agreeing to pay 4 million pesos a month for the next year. He said he would take some Bisquick off my hands in the future if need be. I reported it still looks like AZ will be selecting Marvin Harrison, Jr. with their 4th pick in the draft but recently there is some talk of trading down with the Vikings for their 2 1st round picks.

He left at 10am and I hung around a bit longer. I left at 10:30, bought a box of pads at Pasteur pharmacy, a pair of kitchen gloves and 2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste in Ara before returning to the apt.

I see my bank account still hasn’t been charged for our April 15th to 22nd hotel stay. I sent them an email notifying them I usually have a $600 transaction limit on my account but it has been increased for this week only. I hope that spurs them to charging my account.

I downloaded my 2023 1040 and the signature page and copied the later to my USB drive.

I don’t see anything new playing in Cine Colombia.

I left the apt at 2pm and took a Didi to the mall. I recycled a few things, printed, signed and scanned my signed 1040 in Auros. In Decathlon I bought a suitcase padlock but took a while to figure out how to set it before I purchased it for 53mil. In Exito I purchased a large carton of eggs, a package of croutons and an Duracell 9V battery. In line to pay I met a middle-aged English speaking man and his son from Cali.

I went up to Santa Leña and had a latte with a blueberry/orange muffin.

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

I uploaded my signed form to Vickie’s website but I don’t see a payment invoice.

The payment for the 2nd hotel came through 😊 and I see my pension deposits.

 

DOG MEMES



Thursday, March 28, 2024

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 5:30, couldn’t fall back asleep, finally getting up at 6:15.

Today I had my workout from 9:15 to 10:15. It’s not any easier when there’s 5 days between workouts.

I received an email from Smartfit that our monthly membership fee will increase to 99,900 pesos.

I left the apt at 3pm and took a Didi to this store near downtown Envigado.



When I walked in I was greeted by a young lady wearing a t-shirt that read, “Shut up and kiss me.” I pointed to it and told her I understand that and she wagged her finger and shook her head and all was good. They will add zippers to the outside of the suitcase for 40mil and it will be ready on Saturday.

I walked back to La Buena Mesa and stopped at the Gana store where I paid the Tigo/Une bill.

I went to Eduardo Madrid bakery but they didn’t have any sesame seed bagels. I asked about cinnamon bread but they didn’t have that either. I bought a loaf of pan de semillas (seed bread) and had a latte there. At one point the place was crowded and I gave up my table for a family by moving to a side table next to their bench.

I left at 4:30, stopped at the corner store and bought 2 bags of milk before returning to the apt.

I checked the self-inflating queen size mattress from Amazon and the price, direct to Envigado:

$349.99 – product

$185.59 – shipping & handling

$312.52 – import charges

For a total of $848.10. Well, that’s an easy no!

In the evening Esmeralda arrived by taxi and we went to Antica for pizza. When we finished, I tried to order a Didi to Esmeralda’s apt with a stop at our apt on the way but this time I couldn’t get it to work. I ended up ordering a Didi to our apt and then she called someone who gave her a ride on his motorcycle back home.

I received an email with a pre check-in form attached from the Grand Bavaro Princess. The email was in Spanish, I just hope the form itself is in English or I can copy & paste it to a translator.

 

DOG MEMES



Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 9pm so I wouldn’t be tired today, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 4:45, couldn’t fall back asleep until well after 6am, finally waking/getting up by my alarm at 6:30.

I brought 2 suitcases up from the garage storage area into the apt.

I took a Didi to Unicentro mall and since there was little traffic (because of holy week?) I arrived at the mall 10-15 minutes before their 8am opening.

I met Jose upstairs at Parmessano where I had French toast with a latte and a bottle of water to go for 40,535 pesos and he had coffee Americano and a couple of bunuelos. I told him about my struggles to reserve hotels in Punta Cana.

In the food court I had the Black pieces and had the advantage late in the middle game but didn’t continue properly and lost in the endgame.

In the second game I had the White pieces and mounted a strong attack and had several winning moves but missed the tactics and we agreed to a draw.

It was only 1:30 so instead of reviewing the second game I took a Didi to Viva Envigado. (I heard a cheer while waiting to be picked up.) Again traffic was good.

I stopped in Home Center and found the inflating mattresses but they weren’t the same as the fancy one I found on Amazon. In Pergamino I had the yogurt with chia berries, sliced banana and strawberries and granola, a small latte and a glass of water. I heard another cheer as Colombia was now up 2-0 in a friendly against Romania. I found both the sasteria (suitcase repair) and Gana kiosk (Tigo bill) closed. I bought a large pack of toilet paper and returned to the apt.

I texted Alejandro asking where I could repair the zippers on my suitcase




 and he suggested El Imperio de los Bolsos Carrera 43 #33Sur-31 in Envigado so I’ll check that out tomorrow.

Marcos texted me he received a letter from the owner of his apt notifying him he has to leave by June 30th because he’s only paying 2,900,000 rent and she can get at least 4,000,000. Later he added that he doesn’t have a lease.

I finished watching season 5 of Fargo which was very good.

 

DOG MEMES



Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Monday, March 25, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 5:15, didn’t fall back asleep until after 6am, finally waking/getting up by a phone call at 7:15.

Today is St. Joseph’s Day and the first day of holy week.

Teresa showed me a video of a self-inflating mattress and bed on Amazon. I googled it and it’s $349.99 there.

Amazon.com : self-inflating mattress and bed

I skipped they gym today but did some arm and shoulder exercises with my 7# dumbbell.

I left the apt at 9am and found Parva hadn’t quite opened (doors were open but tables, chairs, and even a motorcycle were parked inside). I took a seat at Ganso y Castor, ordered a latte and alerted Jerry to the change. He arrived about 5 minutes later. I had a latte (had to add sugar it was so strong) with a glass of water and he had breakfast.

I told him about our trip to Greece and he told me about their upcoming trip to the US. They fly to Atlanta where they drop off an aunt, then fly to Connecticut where they travel down the eastern shore by train with a stop for a visit to the White House. They leave this weekend and return May 2nd.

I mentioned the self-inflating mattress and bed Teresa found this morning and he said he bought the same thing in Home Center and it works great and is very comfortable.

I learned more about how they increase apt rentals here. He left about 11am and I stayed around a little longer checking Chicago Bears articles on my cellphone.

I left about 11:30 and bought a couple things in Ara before returning to the apt.

I found a Bungalow Suite available for Grand Bavaro Princess but at the last second received another error message.

I called USAA and with a rep on the line went through the process again and this time it worked.

We had a short shower about 5:30pm.

I booked VIK Hotel Cayena Beach for our 2nd stay from April 15 to the 22nd.

They had some mix-up about my 2nd hotel reservation but I think I’ve gotten that straightened out.

 

DOG MEMES



Monday, March 25, 2024

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10:45, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 6am, finally waking/getting up by alarm at 7:30.

I left the apt at 8:30 and met Glenn at Olivenza at 9am. I brought my new laptop lock and he wasn’t sure how to set it either but did find a video which might help me. I’ll check it out later.

I asked if he would be interested in some Bisquick but he wasn’t interested. He did take an extra generic Neosporin off my hands, though.

Today I had something different, the American breakfast which included French Toast, scrambled eggs, bacon and slices of banana and strawberry. Not to mention 2 lattes.



I left at 11am and returned to the apt.

how to change to combination on a kensignton lock - Search (bing.com)

It wasn’t exactly the same and was a little tricky but I managed to reset the combination on my new laptop lock.

1.  Choose a new combination (same as my other lock).

2.  Set the combination to “0000”.

3.  Push and hold the button at the end of the combination.

4.  Reset the combination.

5.  Release the button.

6.  Teresa gave me the go ahead to purchase our tickets for Punta Cana.

Laura spent the day packing for her return to Boston.

For lunch I ordered chicken from Frisby. I hate that they include 10 arepas that just get thrown out.

I made plans to meet Jerry tomorrow at 9:15 at Parva. He’s so hard to get together with that I’m blowing off a morning at the gym.

I drew a game against Troyclough that I should have lost, reducing my rating to 1573.

Over the next few hours I purchased airline tickets for our flight to Punta Cana. I also tried to reserve a room in one of the hotels but they no longer had availability. I switched to another hotel and the room offered had a king size bed and 2 bunk beds. I took the significance of that to mean this was probably a room/building/area catering to children.

I finally found a room in one of the hotels on my list but the last stop of my payment I received this message:



I then found another room in another hotel and again after submitting the payment I received this message


I decided I’d better make sure the problem isn’t with my bank so I called USAA but they couldn’t hear me. I had to switch MagicJack from speaker to headphone a couple times before it worked.

After a 25-minute wait I spoke to a helpful rep. It took a while to confirm my identity; my USAA app didn’t seem to be working properly. Once we cleared that hurdle she could see my Avianca payment and my attempted hotel payments. She unblocked my card and found that I had exceeded my transaction limit. She changed it for this week for me. I asked her name to thank her and it was something unusual. I asked if she was Jamaican and she replied she’s Haitian. The irony is she’s from one side of the island of Hispaniola and we’re going to the other side. I thanked her profusely for her help and said goodbye.

Laura spent the evening packing.

I finished reading James Rollins’ paperback Subterranean.

At 10:30 I said goodbye to Laura and went to bed.

I understand Bryan will be picking her up at 2am for her 4:40am flight back to Boston.

 

DOG MEMES



Sunday, March 24, 2024

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, took a while (30 minutes?) to fall asleep, got up once about 1am and retrieved my recharged cellphone, again at 5am awakened by the backup beep of a truck, couldn’t fall back asleep so got up 30 minutes later, went back to bed at 6am, finally waking/getting up at 8am.

Troyclough resigned our game increasing my rating 5 points to 1576.

I asked for pancakes for breakfast but Teresa informed me the Bisquick went bad. I checked the box and the “Use By” date was September, 2023. In the future I either need to consume it faster or share it with another gringo.

I’m sure my bowels are now back to normal. 😊

I left at 9:30 and had a café con leche in Parva.

I bought a bottle of laundry detergent and bag of milk in Ara before returning to the apt.

As I returned at 11:30 Teresa and Laura were heading out for a doctor’s appointment so I’m on my own for lunch.

I’ve always wanted to try Office Burger in the La Mesa neighborhood of Envigado. I ordered a Didi for about 8mil but got dropped and when I tried again they wanted 19mil. I switched to Uber and they took me there for about 8mil.

My waitress Mata informed me she spoke English but I quickly determined my poor Spanish was better than her poor English. I ordered the NY burger and a regular Coke.



All was good and I paid 50mil for everything.

I paid 8,500 pesos for a Didi to return me to our apt.

Laura informed me she would like to go out tonight for Italian food. I recommended Olivia but she wanted something more authentic. We settled on Tagliata. It was just after 6:30 when I started changing clothes then, when I was all dressed, Laura informed me we had a reservation for 8pm. At 7:30 we took a Didi to Tagliata for 10,400 pesos.



I was feeling a little full/fat so I just ordered pasta bolognesa and a bottle of water.



The ladies shared a pitcher of sangria, Laura had some type of pasta and Teresa some type of seafood she wasn’t very pleased with. We shared a cream brulee for dessert. The total came to 301,009 pesos including tip. This was Laura’s goodbye dinner.

We left at 9:30 and returned to the apt by Didi for 12,800 pesos.

I started my pre sleep routine as soon as we returned.

 

DOG MEMES



Saturday, March 23, 2024

Friday, March 22, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 2am, again at 5am, finally waking/ getting up at 7am.

Teresa returned from her workout by 7:15.

I had my workout from 9am to 10am.

New movies this week in Cine Colombia include:

  • ·     Arthur the King (7.0)
  • ·     Cabrini (7.9)
  • ·     May December (6.9)
  • ·     The Beast (6.6)

While I was doing my TENS 3000 procedure the guy who rents our parking spot dropped off 180mil for the next 2 months rental.

We were having lunch when breaking news came on TV that Kate Middleton aka Princess of Wales herself announced she has cancer. She said it was discovered after her abdominal surgery and she has started preventative chemotherapy. Well, there is no such thing as preventative chemotherapy, you take it only if you have cancer so she misspoke there. She’s 42 years old with 3 children. According to Dr. Gupta, the most common cancers for women of her age are breast cancer and next cervical cancer.  I’ve never heard of abdominal cancer. What I think happened (my own conspiracy theory if you will) is she went for some cosmetic surgery (eg, breast enhancement or mommy makeover) and the pathology showed her tissue contained cancer.

I left the apt at 2:30 and at Los Porteños I was having a latte but getting a questionable internet connection. I moved to Eduardo Madrid bakery where it was much stronger. I left at 4:30 and returned to the apt.

I started watching season 5 of Fargo. So far, so good.

 

DOG MEMES