Friday, May 8, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 9:45pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at midnight, again at 4am, finally waking at 5:30 and getting up at 6:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 7,691 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 3 hours, 21 minutes.

After breakfast I set an alarm for 45 minutes but probably only slept for 5-10 minutes.

This sign has been in the elevator this week but Teresa didn’t notice it. ☹

I turned off the ice maker on the fridge so we don’t make “dirty” ice.

I packed my gym bag and left the apt at 8:45. I found Smartfit a little less busy than usual. I went up to the 3^rd floor and put my bag in a locker and put on the padlock. Back downstairs I completed my workout including 18 minutes on the treadmill at 5 ½ kph with a final heartrate of 117bpm. Back upstairs I took my shower and of course forgot a few things: hairbrush and deodorant – nothing important.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about 90 minutes before returning to the apt. I felt a few raindrops the last few yards.

Teresa informed me we still have running water but I told her it probably won’t be clean – okay for toilets but not for drinking or cooking.

Interesting that my United Airlines purchase still hasn’t appeared on my credit card.

My Airbnb host sent me the actual address of the building, 633 Quincy Bridge Ln, Glenview, IL, and it’s in a nicer area than I previously thought.

We left the apt at 12:30 and took a Didi to Santafe mall for 12,500 pesos.

We had lunch in Olivia’s for 154,711 pesos ($42).

I went down to Valentina’s while Teresa checked out Zara. She joined me half an hour later and informed me that all the clothes were ugly.

I won a game in 12 moves against Troyclough, increasing my rating to 1525.

AJ with private security:

I had a latte and she had one of her cold coffees with ice cream and the total check with tip came to 45,000 pesos.

We left at 4;30 and returned to the apt by taxi for 16,800 pesos.

We picked up our package from the portero – bracelet clasps for Teresa and Blink eyedrops for me. These we were able to be delivered directly to Envigado.

I finished season 1 of The Man in the High Castle.

I watched The Chris Hayes Show then started my pre-sleep reading.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Thursday, May 7, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 3:30, took a while (an hour) to fall back asleep, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 7,675 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours, 44 minutes.

I emailed my United confirmation email to Auros in Viva Envigado.

My 2^nd package arrived in Miami and I asked Innovation Corp in Bogota to release my packages.

I left the apt at 8:30 and walked to the mall. I stopped in Auros but they couldn’t find my email. I sent it again and showed the clerk that I sent it. I waited a couple minutes but it still hadn’t arrived so I told him I’d come back later.

I went up to the banking area and tried to withdraw cash from the one ATM that always gives me 100s but it didn’t work. Then I noticed a message “sin tarjetas” so I guess that’s why my debit card didn’t work. I’m 0 for 2 so far this morning.

I went down to Urbania and had a latte for about 90 minutes.

I went back upstairs but the ATM hadn’t been fixed.

I stopped in Auros again but they still hadn’t received my email. I’ll try later at the Bancolombia kiosk.

I stopped in Exito and went to aisle 16 looking for my Azteca Mexican salsa. I didn’t see it and asked workers again. One boy took me over to aisle 6 and there they were. Only problem is they were all “picante” none were “suave”. I bought one hoping to mix it with the remnants of my current bottle to dilute it. I also bought 4 oranges and returned to the apt by taxi.

I went next door to Ara and bought lettuce, broccoli, and whatever that long onion is called. In the checkout line I ran into Mark, a guy I had met years ago with his wife. He’s from Boston, been here 8 years and has a son graduating this month with a degree in psychology from EAFIT and another that will be graduating in 2 years.

I heard from the Airbnb host but when I went to book it on Airbnb, the last step said, “This phone number is already in use. You can remove it from the associated account or add a different one.” Of course it’s in use, it’s my cellphone!

I left the apt at 2pm and was about to round the corner to Gardenia when I spied this bird I hadn’t seen before. It was mostly in the bushes and I had to wait a bit to get a clear photo:

A woman came down the sidewalk and I pointed out the bird and asked her what it’s called. She said something that not only would I not be able to remember, She said they are often seen in this area and they can get noisy. I had trouble pronouncing it. She started walking away when I noticed the baby.

I called her back by saying, “mujer”, 😊 and she came back. I was a little surprised she didn’t hesitate to pick it up but it obviously had a broken wing. ☹ That’s when I noticed the other parent nearby. She put it down and left and I continued on to Gardenia.

I had a latte while going through my endgame book. At one point I showed a waitress the photo of the bird and had her write down the name of it. She left and I googled it but it came up with a photo of a McCaw. She soon returned and gave me a slightly different name and I found this photo:

Teresa called me about 4:30 and asked me to pick up vanilla gelato from Antonio’s. I left at 5pm, bought a ½ liter of vanilla gelato from Antonio’s, 2 packages of arepas in Ara before returning to the apt.

Well, I was on the phone with an Airbnb rep for about an hour getting my old account removed, my new account set up with a government ID (my cedula), my photo reviewed, and my reservation request forwarded. Now I just need to wait to hear from the host.

At 8pm I started my pre-sleep reading routine. I finished reading John Grisham’s The Appeal on my Kindle.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, took a while to fall asleep, got up once at 3am, fell asleep pretty quickly, finally waking/getting up at 6am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 4,477 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 5 hours, 11 minutes.

Vicky left early, about 7am.

I had a little nap after breakfast and left for Smartfit at 8:45am. It was slightly less busy than usual and I completed most of my routine in the usual order, including 18 minutes on the treadmill at 5 ½ kph with a final hearrate of 117bpm.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about 90 minutes and bought a bag of milk in Ara on the way back to the apt.

Vicky returned just after noon.

We all had cheese & broccoli soup and turkey with gravy for lunch.

The ladies left for Viva Envigado for something – beauty shop?

I booked our August 27^th – September 17^th flights roundtrip between Medellin and Chicago via United Airlines for $1401.06 total which includes a checked bag, carry-on, seat selection, and city/airport fees. I immediately chose our seats, all with us sitting in aisle seats across from each other. We have layovers in Houston of 4 hours going there and 3 hours coming back.

I left at 1:30, returned a plastic container to Eduardo Madrid to reuse, paid the Movistar bill, printed my games with Jose and took a table outside Ganso y Castor. A (probably bored) young waitress there spoke a little English and we had a little conversation. I left at 4pm and returned to the apt.

According to Amazon I had a package arrive in Florida.

Following the advice of ChatGPT, I squeezed the juice out of my lemon, put the juice in a Ziploc bag and put it horizontally in the freezer. Now when I need a few drops of lemon for my tea, I just break off a small chunk.

At 6pm Teresa sent me a voice mail to meet them at 6:30 for supper but she didn’t say where. I asked her via text but she didn’t answer until 6:30 when they were already in Chiclayo. I dressed and went over and they had an outside table. Teresa ordered an appetizer and Vicky and I had regular plates with water for Teresa and I and some liquor for Vicky.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 1:45, took a while to fall back asleep, got up again at 5am, couldn’t fall back asleep so got up at 5:45.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 4,819 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours.

Teresa left just after 6am for her exercise class.

I left at 7:15 and took a Didi to Unicentro for 15,300 pesos. I bought a banana from a street cart for 1mil. (I’ve been eating a banana M/W/F after gym and Tuesday before chess and I haven’t had a cramp in that span of time. Hopefully I’ve found the solution.) I was early so I walked once around the block. I stopped at the Davivienda ATM and withdrew 2 million pesos, mixed bills. I went up to Parmessano and Jose soon joined me. Today I had the same meal as him, 4 scrambled eggs with little Italian sausages and an almond croissant. It seemed like too much food, I think next time I’ll skip the two extra eggs. The price was the same as my usual French toast, 55mil with a bottle of water to go including tip. He alerted me to the fact that the USD has increased to 3700 pesos.  I checked and its at 3,710 pesos to the dollar.

We adjourned to the food court where I lost both games, the first in 24 moves, the second in 28 moves.

It was only 1pm when I ordered a Didi to take me to Pricesmart for 15,300 pesos.

I had a large slice of pepperoni pizza and a Coke for 16,800 pesos in their lunchroom.

That’s $4.52, less than $5, can Costco match that price?

I found my Johnsonville Breakfast Sausages, a small package of pancake mix, ground beef and returned to the apt by taxi for 22,000 pesos.

I watched another episode of The Man in the High Castle. Teresa returned with Vicky just before 7pm. I watched some news then started my pre-sleep reading routine.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Monday, May 4, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 2:30 (it was raining), took a while to fall back asleep, finally waking/getting up at 6:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 8,181 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 29 minutes.

May the fourth be with you! 😊

Annie James

I had a 45-minute nap after breakfast but in reality only slept about 10 minutes or so.

I left the apt at 8:45 and found Smartfit a little busier than usual. I completed 18 minutes on the treadmill at 5 ½ kph with a final heartrate of 118 bpm. The Chest Press machine, one of my last 4 exercises, was occupied so I skipped it for today.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for at least an hour, printed some chess notes at the Bancolombia kiosk, bought lettuce and broccoli in Ara and returned to the apt.

The Airbnb host finally responded, “Yes, I can save those days for you.”.

We left the apt at 3pm and took a Didi to Cedimed on Calle 7 for 10,200 pesos. We went up to the 16^th floor and I took a seat in the general waiting area while Teresa went into the doctor’s office. She called a few minutes later and informed me that I could wait for her downstairs in the café. I went down to Il Cappuccino and ordered a café con leche. I gave the cashier 10,000 pesos and she gave me back 14,000 pesos. Luckily, the guy behind me spoke English and was able to explain what happened and why I was returning 10mil to her.

I drank my coffee and Teresa soon joined me. She got botox in her forehead for 500,000 pesos but it didn’t look any different to me.

To avoid heavy traffic, we skipped going for coffee and returned directly to the apt by taxi. Vicky was supposed to arrive by 7pm and we would go to Chiclayo for supper but by 7:45 I gave up and ate an apple. She later informed us she got caught in the rain and would be staying overnight in Llano Grande.

I watched another episode of The Man in the High Castle, watched some of The Rachel Maddow Show then started my reading.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Sunday, May 3, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 1am, took a while to fall back asleep, finally waking/getting up at 7:15.

I saw Glenn’s text message – we’ll meet as usual in Olivenza at 9am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,546 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 5 hours and 49 minutes.

I left the apt at 8:30 and met Glenn with Bianca in Olivenza at 9am. He will be going to Miami at the end of the month (May 17^th-??) for about a week to see a cardiac specialist. We had a difference of opinion on how to acquire a sim card for his cellphone from T-Mobile. He wants to have it sent to his apt here in Envigado and I suggested he just visit an office in Miami. I told him I can’t find Mexican salsa anywhere and he suggested a place across the street in La Frontera. When I left, I stopped over there and they had several different bottles but they were all picante. ☹ I returned to the apt.

I checked my gmail account and it turned out I still had to delete then empty the trash for a lot more google files. Then I reset my Airbnb email and password but I think I’ve got everything set up correctly now. I sent a quick email to Karoline, the Airbnb host, asking if she can hold 2-3 weeks in September for me to purchase airline tickets.

Later her response was she sent me a booking invitation for August 27^th to September 17^th. ☹ No conversation, just the booking invitation for the dates I was screening for.

I left the apt at 2:30 and had a latte in Gardenia while creating more notes on The Pirc in ChessBase 16. By 4pm the sun peeks inside the side of the café and it gets unbearably warm. I moved to the other side of the table but soon had to leave anyway.

Teresa was busy all day and evening organizing the apt.

I watched another episode of The Man in the High Castle.

I opened my last box of Zopiclona tablets and, being a different brand, they are smaller than the previous and not scored but I was able to cut them pretty cleanly with my pill cutter.

Just before going to bed Teresa took a sleeve of my Zopiclona tablets and now I’m down to just 20. ☹

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Saturday, May 2, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 11:30, fell back asleep quickly, at some point was aware it was raining, finally waking at 5:30 (still raining) and getting up at 6:15 (just a few raindrops).

According to my Fitbit, I got in 8,867 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 3 hours and 39 minutes.

Teresa wants to have lunch in Crepes & Waffles in Arkadia so she can shop a bit while I go across the street to Pricesmart and buy mild cheddar cheese to make soup.

I left the apt at 8:30 with my laptop in my backpack and walked to the mall. I stopped in Home Center and found the down escalator closed off so I walked down the up escalator (more like a moving sidewalk than stairs) but nearly stumbled coming off it. I found the new universal toilet valve sells for 50,000 pesos:

I assume 7/8” is the standard opening on a toilet. I’ll study the instructions a bit more before I purchase it.

I moved on to Urbania and took a seat at the co-working table.

I didn’t even have to order anything as the waiter brought me a latte and a glass of water (forgot the ice though).

I had brought my book on the Pirc opening and entered some common lines into a new ChessBase database I named The Pirc by Nigel Davies. By 10:30 my laptop battery was down to 30% so I packed up and returned to the apt by taxi.

We left the apt at noon and took a Didi to Arkadia mall for 10,100 pesos.

Teresa checked out H&M and was gone for almost an hour. She texted me a couple times to inform the lines were crazy long. When she came out, we went up to Crepes & Waffles and the line there was crazy long there also so we went next door to a restaurant called Romero. Teresa had salmon and I beef lasagna and we shared a mango juice for 133,624 pesos including tip.

AJ at the Chicago Botanical Garden.

Teresa went back to H&M to complete her exchange and I went across the street to Pricesmart. The store was very crowded with long lines at checkout. I didn’t find Bisquick or Strawberry Preserves but I did find Welch’s grape jelly, Canadian maple syrup and turkey breast. 😊 I checked the maple syrup and it doesn’t expire until March of 2028 so I have time to finish the Mrs. Butterworths.

Teresa was waiting for me as I exited the store, we went downstairs and there was a taxi waiting to take us back to Envigado for 22,000 pesos.

I watched another episode of The Man in the High Castle, some news then started reading.

Teresa asked me if I’m going to meet Glenn for breakfast tomorrow. First time I’m hearing this. She informed me she’ll be busy cleaning (and organizing her craft mess) in preparation for Vicky arriving on Monday. I sent Glenn a quick text message and went to bed.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY