Friday, January 31st, 2014

Last night I watched the 2008 movie The Oxford Murders (6.2) on Netflix: “After Oxford logic professor Arthur Seldom and his new graduate student Martin discover a dead woman, they get involved in trying to solve a string of homicides in which the killer marked each victim's body with cryptic mathematical symbols.”

I went to bed at 11:15, got up once at 4:20 and woke/got up at 7:05.  Again I went to bed with the windows and blinds open.  That keeps the room cooler and since I usually get up early anyway the light isn’t so bothersome – so far.  As long as it’s quiet outside!  (BTW, I haven’t used the bedroom fan in months so I guess either I’m finding ways to keep cool or I’m just getting more acclimated to the weather.)

I walked up to Carrera 84 and over to Calle 35.  Looking west I saw what looks like a number of mom & pop stores I haven’t checked out.  After my usual breakfast at Los Mejores I walked 2 or 3 blocks further west up Calle 35 looking for the mystery woman.  Again, no luck!  I walked north on Carrera 84 and had a churro and coffee at Paisa Pan.  Then I stopped at the Internet café and had another set of chess table pictures printed out in color for 6mil.

I checked out the movies opening today in the US and there isn’t anything I’m interested in.

In Medellin I have a choice of:

·       The Wolf of Wall Street: Los Molinos, Monterrey, Oviedo, Santafe, Unicentro, Vizcaya.

·       American Hustle: Oviedo, Vizcaya.

·       The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: Oviedo.

Unless I’m really hard up to see a movie, from now on I’m only going to list those movie theatres which are conveniently located.

I checked my checking account and am happy to report my Social Security and 2 of my 3 small pension deposits are already there.  It looks like I’m going to end the month with an extra $100 to carry over to next month plus about 50mil in cash.

I looked at the Immigration website again and I see it was updated on Tuesday but my number still isn’t there.

At 1pm I caught a Simon Bolivar bus and was at Unicentro by 1:15.  (On the way there a man got on the bus, sat in the seat across from the driver and snapped on his seat belt but didn’t tighten it and there was literally as much slack as the space he had taken up with his body.  Lol.)  There was an area outside the main entrance with a band playing rock music.  I got off on the far side of the mall right across from Entrance #3.  I took an escalator up 2 floors and I was outside Cine Colombia.  I bought a general seating ticket to The Wolf of Wall Street for 8,500 pesos.  After checking out the current movie posters, making a trip to the restroom and purchasing a small popcorn and medium Pepsi for 10,500 I was in my seat 5 minutes before showtime.

I saw coming attractions for Last Vegas (6.8) starring Michael Douglas, Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline and Saving Mr. Banks (7.8) starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson.  Interestingly, the Spanish title of the latter movie is El Sueno de Walt which translates to Walt’s (Disney) Dream.

I caught a bus and was back at the apartment by 5:15 despite the heavy traffic.

I got an answer to my email from Reina but she just asked when the SuperBowl is and I told her this Sunday.

In Chess Magnet School I was promoted to Protector with a rating of 1328.

Thursday, January 30th, 2014

Last night I watched the 2010 movie Nine Dead (5.4) “After locking nine strangers in a cellar, a hooded madman announces that he'll slay one of them every 10 minutes until they uncover their mutual link.”

I went to bed at 11:15, realized I forgot to close the window louvers and the blinds but was too lazy to get up, woke up at 6:15 and got up at 6:45.

I had coffee and croissant at Los Mejores then stopped at the Tinto store for another cup of coffee.  Today there was another attractive young lady working in the store that looked close enough to yesterday’s young lady that I’m pretty sure they are sisters.  A little while later a middle aged woman came in with a man – they kissed so they are probably husband and wife and she looks enough like the young ladies that she is probably their mother.  I haven’t seen Maria or her lawyer husband since these “strangers” showed up yesterday and I’m starting to think there is a change in ownership going on here.

I was at LM reviewing my tournament games – mainly to verify that I recorded them correctly.  I obviously missed some moves so I going to have to take some time to try to recreate them.  

I was packed up and leaving at 10:30 when I ran into Augusto who wanted to play.  We played maybe 16 games and he won only one.  Augusto had to leave at 2:20 to get back to work.  As I was packing up my things Dario stopped by and said “hi” before meeting with a couple of friends at the next table.

At 3pm I had a chicken grilled sandwich, fries and Pepsi at Burger King for 13,900 (with coupon) followed by a small strawberry sundae for 1700 (with coupon).

As I was getting up to leave it started pouring outside; I waited 10 minutes but it didn’t stop so I just walked home in the rain.

In Chess Magnet School I was promoted to Defender.

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

Last night in Chess Magnet School I was promoted to Marshall and my rating is up to 1250.  I watched the 2010 movie The Killing Jar (5.8) “One night in a diner, seven people listen to a radio report of the slaughter of a nearby family.  When a shifty man enters, he’s an immediate suspect.”

I went to bed at 11pm, woke up at 3:30, finally fell back asleep after 5 and woke/got up at 7:15 feeling pretty good.

I had a cup of coffee with a slice of cheese and ham pizza at Fresco Pan for 2mil.  On my way there I saw Gonzalo at the Salsamentaria across the street.  He told me the woman working at Fresco Pan, Luiza, is very special.  I couldn’t wait to see her.  It turns out she’s the new lady working there and while she’s not bad looking she’s not really my type.

I left the apartment at 12:30, took a Circular 302 bus to Monterrey, walked up to FFSS and had a burger, chips and a Coke for 13mil.  I walked to Vizcaya and bought a ticket for 3mil to Dallas Buyers Club (8.1).  I bought a small popcorn and medium Pepsi for 10,500.  It was a good movie starring Matthew McConaughey who lost a lot of weight to portray a man with Aids.  

As I was walking down Calle 10 a few hundred feet ahead of me was a young lady in white jeans or pants.  The shape of her legs and butt looked so nice that as she passed people they turned and looked back at her – men and women.  Unfortunately she turned down a side street and I had to continue down the hill.  

I stopped at Mail Boxes Etc (MBE) and paid next month’s bill of $15 (30mil).  They gave me one piece of mail which turned out to be my Social Security 1099 statement.  I also have confirmation they have my correct MBE address.

At 5:15 I caught a Circular 303 bus back to Viva CC.  The trip took about 45 minutes and was very crowded.  I stopped at Comedor de Chava and had a small frijoles (beans) and mango juice for 6,500 pesos.  Back at the apartment I felt so sticky from the bus ride I took my 2^nd shower of the day.

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

Last night I watched Europa Report (6.5) “An international crew of astronauts undertakes a privately funded mission to search for life on Jupiter's fourth largest moon.”

I went to bed at 11pm, woke up at 4:30 and got up at 5am.  

I had my usual breakfast at Los Mejores as I don’t know what else is open at 6:15 in the morning.  After returning to the apartment to put things away in anticipation of Olga coming at 9am, I went to the Tinto store for a cup of coffee.  Even though Gonzalo was there he told me he doesn’t work there anymore.  L  Instead there was a pretty young lady (maybe 20 years old) with a very nice figure.  J  Gonzalo tells me that Bob should be here this afternoon but I told him I’m having my apartment cleaned today and I won’t be able to leave until at least 1 or 2pm.  I showed him my chess table specifications and he approved the Spanish translation.  Jhon came by just before 8 as he has a new student soon and he also approved my specs.  Gonzalo told me he has someone who could build the table for me so I loaned him my pictures and specifications.  

I stopped at Likkes and requested lunch to be delivered and I saw the juice lady was back so I had a glass of orange juice for 2mil.

Back at the apartment Olga showed up about 9:10 and finished her cleaning at 1pm. 

I took a nap from 1:15 to 2:30.

I checked the Immigration website and it was updated again on 1/27/14 but my Cedula number wasn’t there.

In the Chess Magnet School I was promoted to Warden.  I’m also reviewing and recording some traps they have on the Queens Gambit opening; one I don’t use but I should probably be familiar with.

I went to Viva CC with my iPad and did some studying of a free chess book on my New in Chess app.  For dinner I had a Classic Hamburger with fries and Pepsi for 8900 (with coupon) at Burger King in Viva CC.

Monday, January 27th, 2014

Last night I watched the 2002 movie The Pianist (8.5) on Netflix “A polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II” followed by another episode of Persons Unknown.

I went to bed at 11pm, woke up sometime around 3 or 3:30 (forgot to take my enlarged prostate medicine last night – could there be a connection?), and finally got up at 5am.

It’s a very cool morning – about 60 degrees.  I had a coffee and croissant at Los Mejores at 6:30 – no sign of Damaris as expected.

I checked the immigration website and it was updated again on 1/23/14 but my Cedula is still not on the list.

I got an email from James Antle.  He rode his bicycle to Mall de Laureles this weekend and now that he knows where it is we have agreed to meet there on Saturday at noon.

I stopped at Jhon’s office and he has a new student named Carlos.

I stopped in the Viva lower level and took cash out of 2 ATMs and got a rate of 1993 with both.  Margarita, the building owner, and I are trying to figure out what currency exchange rate to use for purposes of my paying her in USD.

I stopped at the Western Union office and asked her what the currency exchange rate is and she said something ridiculous like 1850.  As I was talking to her I noticed 2 armed guards were now standing right outside my door.  The one in the doorway was holding a large pistol but at least he holding it down to his side.  The other guard was on the other side of the narrow hallway holding his shotgun.  I said goodbye to the lady, put my hands up and tried to look worried as I walked out of the office.  The guy with the pistol smiled but not the guy across the hall.

It appears they are building a little separate room (maybe 10’ x 10’) in the hallway just outside Exito.

I stopped at BanColombia and got change for 50mil so I would have the exact cash to pay for lunch and Beatriz tomorrow.  There was only one person ahead of me but she took about 10 minutes.

I priced a set of ear plugs (found with help from a young saleslady) and a stapler.

While I was having a cup of coffee at PacMan in LM, Wilson stopped by and we chatted for a while.

I left the apartment at 1:10 for a 2pm movie at Carrefour (now Jumbo).  I caught a Circular Sur 303 bus (it’s been a while since I’ve gone in this direction) and got off across the street from Makro (grocery store), Home Center (hardware), and Jumbo (like WalMart).  I was inside Jumbo but outside the theatre by 1:45 because it was gated and dark.  I wondered if this was the first showing of the day and they would open at the last minute.  The only other movie info I had with me was for the same movie – but a 5:10 showing at Santafe CC.  If they didn’t open by 2pm then I would have to catch a bus back, stop at the apartment, pick up my other movie & theatre times and start this whole process over again.  I stopped in Carrefour and located and priced the things I wanted to buy before I left.

I was sitting outside the theatre reading my Nook when right at 2pm the lights came on and I could see workers behind the ticket counter.  At 2:10 they opened the gate and I bought a ticket to Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (6.6) for 7mil ($3.50).  I bought a small popcorn and medium Pepsi for 14mil ($7).  There were only 4 other people in the theatre for that showing.  One problem I have with this movie is that there are a number of scenes with actors speaking Russian.  In a US theatre the captions would be in English but here they are in Spanish and I could only decipher a few words out of each sentence.  I could have sworn that Mikhail Baryshnikov (born in the USSR) was in this movie but his name isn’t in the credits.  It must have been his twin.

After the movie I stopped in Jumbo real quick and bought a Swingline stapler (with staples and staple remover included) for 17,690, a set of fancy earplugs for 2,440, and a package of 2 AA batteries for 5,990.

I easily caught a Circular Sur 302 bus for the trip back but a couple blocks from Avenida 80 it turned north.  This doesn’t bother me anymore because of so many times I’ve seen the bus attempt to take a detour around traffic.  But this time it stopped and everyone had to get off and get on another bus.  I guess his shift was over.  I believe this has happened to me a couple times before.  

When I got back to the apartment building my key wouldn’t open the door.  I was getting my cell phone out to call Margarita Montes when the door opened and the lady from upstairs let me in and handed me a new key.  I said “muchas gracias” several times.

Since I had finished rewriting the specs for my chess table I copied it onto a flash drive and had 2 copies of the single page printed out for 600 pesos.  Next step is to have Jhon okay the Spanish translation.  Since I was in the area I had to stop at Paisa Pan for a cup of coffee and a churro for 1,600 pesos.  I was surprised to see Pawn Shop (I think that’s what the series is called) on their TV being broadcast in English.  Of course whenever they listed something on the screen it was in Spanish as well as all the commercials.  After that I walked over to LM and had a fresh mango juice at Comedor de Chava.

Margarita and I have agreed to identify the currency exchange rate that I will use for my monthly rent payments.  The last day of the month I will withdraw a small amount from my ATM and that currency exchange rate is what we will use (before my 1% foreign transaction fee).

Sunday, January 26th, 2014

Last night I watched episodes 2 & 3 of Persons Unknown.  I’m not sure how long I will continue watching the series as it’s starting to get ridiculious.

I went to bed at 11pm, got up once during the night, woke up at 5:30 and got up at 6am.  As I walked past the little playground area next to the community center I saw Maria from the Tinto store in there playing with a beautiful huskie.  I was at the hotel at 7:05 and had to wait until 7:15 for them to have breakfast ready.

I waited about 20 minutes for a Laureles 191 bus (yep, I saw one pass as I was approaching the street) but I noticed a Santra Belen 316 bus pass by that listed El Hueco as one of its stops.  Today I got off at the stadium metro station and by the time I got to the Chess League I only had 10 minutes before the start time.  

This game was against an unrated player and I had the black pieces.  I was able to play my opening but I blundered on the 10^th move and he got a free pawn, he had a better position and I hadn’t castled yet.  I held out until the 49^th move.  His name is Juan Mejia and since he worked in New York for a while he spoke very good English.  He was working construction in Bogota but had a little accident and is presently on crutches.  He lives in Envigado and he invited me to join him next Sunday to watch the Superbowl at a Gringo restaurant that serves good barbecue.  (I could take the Circular 302 bus to the Aguacatala metro station, take the metro to Envigado and then take a taxi, if necessary, from there to the restaurant.  Since it would be late coming home I would probably just take a taxi.)

Today I didn’t see Brenda at all nor the woman who spoke English.  L

I wasn’t real hungry so I decided to just have a little street food for lunch.  I decided to walk around the stadium itself instead of the 4 square blocks it’s situated on.  There were a lot of little stands set up selling all types of food.  First thing I had a slab of pineapple for 1,500 pesos.  I was wondering if the stadium had a pool.  Hah!  It has an olympic pool, a syncronized swimming pool, an underwater pool, a diving pool, and pools for lessons.  In fact it has almost everything: a building for table tennis, softball field, roller skating area, numerous soccer fields (of course), sand volleyball, and a sunken “bowl” for kids to ride their bikes.  I’m sure I missed some things.

Next I had an empanda and a soda (grape, ugh) for 4 mil.  

Walking back to the Chess League I saw a large truck pull up and numerous police get out.  I also saw 11 horses with riders that were dressed like “rough riders”.  The area around the stadium was already barricaded off and I had to tell a policeman I was playing chess at the Chess League to get back in.  I had a Guanábana ice cream cone for 1,200 pesos and a bottle of water for 2,500.

My next opponent had a rating of 1600 so this is the game I really needed to win to finish ahead in points for the tournament.  I had white and played my usual opening but I ended up resigning on the 36^th move.  While we were playing we heard a lot of those plastic horns being blown.  Today A/N is playing Medellin at 5:30 and people are already arriving.  When I finally left the Chess League at 3:30 I saw MANY police.  All men that came off the street were being frisked and ladies purses and other packages searched.  I saw 5 horses and riders at the corner near where I catch the bus.  Beautiful animals!  Lots of people were in the area walking around the stadium.  There are vendors selling food, A/N pennants and jerseys.  

After waiting at the bus stop for about 10 minutes a young man asked me in English where I am going and I told him Laureles.  He said he was going to Belen and the other woman to Laureles and did I want to share a taxi.  I told him I was in no hurry and I would rather wait a little longer for a bus.  I finally caught one about 15 minutes later.  

As the bus was driving south on Carrera 70 (Avenida Colombiano) the streets were packed with people (all in A/N jerseys) for the first 3 or 4 blocks.  Talk about tailgating; they really take their soccer seriously here.  This is 2 hours before game time, remember!

Dinner was a burger and medium milkshake at Burger King for 14,300.

Tonight I’m just going to take it easy and watch a movie or two.

Saturday, January 25th, 2014

Last night I had a small bowl of beans at Comedor de Chava and a mango juice for 6,500 pesos ($3.25).  I saw Jim and Ruby at LM and I told them about my results thus far in the chess tournament.  I only had to wait about 5 minutes to catch a Laureles 191 bus to the stadium and once again I got there about 15 minutes early.

This time I had white against a man with a rating of 1933 – another 200+ difference.  I was able to play my opening and we had a good game but I eventually resigned on the 50^th move.

It was 8:45 so I hustled out of there hoping to catch a bus back to my apartment because I thought they only run until 9pm.  Finally exactly at 9pm I caught a Laureles 191 bus; maybe they run later on weekends.  This is the beginning of the Colombians party weekend as I observed a lot of people sitting outside in the open cafes and restaurants.

When I got back to my apartment I watched Persons Unknown (6.8) “Seven strangers disappear without a trace and wake up together in a hotel room. The suspense is in finding out why they were taken -- and by whom.”  It turns out it’s a series – to be continued!

I went to bed at 11pm got up once during the night and woke/got up at 7:25.  I had just enough time for a quick breakfast at Los Mejores and then I caught a bus to the stadium at 9:25.

Traffic was very heavy as we approached the south end of the stadium.  I could see why when we turned the corner – all traffic was merging into one lane and then they had the street we normally take on the west side of the stadium blocked off.  Uh Oh!

The bus went up a couple more blocks and then turned left away from the stadium.  Then it turned left again and was heading east parallel to the road we were just on.  I was tempted to get off and walk around the stadium but I figured as long as it wasn’t going further away I would stay with it.  It passed the street east of the stadium because it’s one way the other direction so I stayed hoping the bus would turn north at the next intersection which it did.  It went up several blocks until it was even with the north end of the stadium but then it turned right - away from it.  I leaned on the button to get off but he waited a couple more blocks before stopping.  On my walk back I saw Los Mejores II.  Instead of being at least 20 minutes early I got there just 10 minutes before.

I wanted to ask the cute receptionist/secretary to lunch but her desk was surrounded by people needing her help.  I checked with the little store nearby to make sure they had bottles of cold water which they did.  If they hadn’t then I would need to buy a bottle coming back from lunch. 

Because I had 1 win and 2 losses I played against a weaker player – a 10-year? old boy with a rating of only 1481.  But he was a good player and gave me all I could handle until I won in the endgame.  I had black but I was able to play the opening I use with the white pieces - but in reverse.

I went inside and asked the secretary if she would like to join me for lunch.  I thought I made myself perfectly clear but finally an attractive woman who lived in Ohio for a time came to our assistance.  (I wonder if she’s married?  I wonder if she plays chess?)  The secretary’s name is Brenda – that’s easy for a gringo to remember and her time to go for lunch is from 12:30 to 2pm so I told her I would be back at 12:30.  

A closer inspection of the results table showed that the man with the 1902 rating that I beat didn’t play any more games – he dropped out of the tournament.

Since there was going to be about an hour wait I bought a bottle of water and read some more from my Nook.  I was back in the office at 12:30 and I waited another 15 minutes for her to come out.  She took me on a shortcut from the league office to the bus stop where I normally catch my bus back to my apartment and then we continued down the street to just about where I got dropped off earlier.  On the way we passed a lot of outdoor restaurants with people having lunch.

I had Bandeja Paisa and she had Sancoche (sp?) in the restaurant of the Sauces del Estadio Hotel (Carrera 69 #49A-30) for 10mil each.  Of course we floundered around trying to converse but I did learn she doesn’t have any children.  I usually use the age of a woman’s children as a guide to how old they are by just adding 20 years.  Jhon tells me how impolite it is to ask a woman here her age.  She’s cute, petite and has a pretty dark “tan”.  If nothing else I learned of a short cut and where a restaurant is where I can have lunch.

I got her back to the office before 2pm and read some more from my Nook until the next round started at 3pm.  Because I’m now 2-2 I played a man with a rating of 1854.  I had the white pieces and got into my opening and was really holding my own working towards a king side attack until I realized he had a way to break through the center which he did.  It was all downhill after that and I resigned after the 56^th move.  We were getting down to the last couple of minutes on our clock and I was hoping to beat him on time but that’s harder these days because every time you make a move another 30 seconds is added to your time.

I left at 6pm and caught a bus right away thanks to my new shortcut – even though it probably only saves something like 2 minutes.  I had the chicken shish kebab at SanJote with a mango juice for 12mil.

Friday, January 24th, 2014

Yesterday I left the apartment at 4:55 and as I was approaching Avenida 80 a man was yelling something at someone, then everyone.  He started coming towards me and yelling at me while I was waiting for traffic to clear so I could cross the street.  I would have felt more comfortable had I had my pepper spray with me.  He finally turned around, picked up a large rock, hurled it at a metal garage door and continued walking down the street.  He must have been on drugs!

As I was passing Viva CC I saw that they lowered the “!” signs so they could hang pennants from the framework of the upper part of the structure.

I had the Solomito (skirt steak) at SanJote with a mango juice for 16,500.  For the first time the owner gave me a cash register receipt.  I wonder if this had anything to do with his talk with Augusto.

I took the Laureles 191 bus and was at the Stadium at 6:15, 15 minutes early.  I think 5pm is about the correct time for me to leave for a 6:30 start.

I have a solid Class B rating – 1693; in time I’ll find out if that’s my true strength or not.  I don’t know if I’ve gotten stronger or weaker since my tournament days from years ago.  My Wednesday night game was against a solid Class A player with a rating of 1905.  Last night they had me paired against an Expert with a rating of 2009 and I had the black pieces.  I held out for 30 moves but I never even had the opportunity to castle.  I was done before 8pm and wandering around I saw a fairly attractive young lady playing and she has a rating in the 1800s.  I checked the list of players and there are a lot of strong ones and a few with ratings like mine in the 1600s.

I forgot to mention that Wednesday night I wore an undershirt, a long sleeved shirt and my light jacket.  I felt fine all night but I probably didn’t need the jacket.  Last night was warmer so I just wore a long sleeved shirt and was fine.

I caught a bus back to the apartment and watched Cowboys and Angels (6.5) on Netflix.  “Danny, a young lawyer jilted at the altar, dreams of becoming a cowboy and must choose between two very different women. Candice's appeal is that she is a traditional woman, but JoJo is unconventional and leads Danny on a voyage of self-discovery.”

While watching the movie on my laptop my peripheral vision caught something come in the window and land on the floor.  It was a cockroach whose life expectancy was extremely limited.

I went to bed at 11:15, didn’t sleep well, got up at 4:30, put in eyedrops and took 2 Excedrin Migraine, went back to bed, got up at 5:30 and, still not feeling well, skipped my morning workout.

I walked up to Carrera 84, over to Calle 35 and down to Los Mejores where I saw Damaris and had my usual coffee and croissant.

Back at the apartment I laid down from 7:30 to 8:30 and then felt a little better.

I finally got an email response from Reina.  She is selling cell phone minutes in Envigado every day from 10 in the morning to 7 at night.

I checked out the new US movie releases and there isn’t anything I’m interested in.

I checked out the local movie theatres and I would like to see The Wolf of Wall Street (8.6), American Hustle (7.8), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (7.6), Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (6.6), and Dallas Buyers Club (8.1).  It looks like I’m going to be seeing some movies next week.  I suspect some of the start times change between Friday and Monday so I’m going to wait until then to identify them.

Today the dollar (USD) is worth 2000 Colombian pesos (COP) so I’m thinking of using that as my conversion factor instead of 1900.  I’m having a discussion with Margarita regarding what source to use for determining the currency exchange rate.  Different sites give different rates.

As I was leaving the apartment I saw Martha with the man they’ve had working in the building many times in the past.  I told him I will have a little work for him in 3-4 weeks while my brother is here.  I got his name (Darley Ocampo) and cell phone number (312 268 9553) and put it in my cell phone directory.  (Only possible problem is the ink smeared a little but I think I got it right.)

I took a bus to Los Molinos to get a haircut.  I arrived at 10:30 and Juan was there but he was busy and told me to come back at 11.  I did and he wasn’t there but he came back at 11:15.  I got a nice trim leaving most of the hair on the top of my head alone for 20mil plus a 5mil tip.

I took a little nap from 1-2pm.

I continued my advanced test in ChessMagnetSchool.com and was promoted to knight and then yeoman.

Hopefully I’ll have an opponent tonight with a rating closer to my own.

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014

Yesterday we were supposed to be at the stadium at 6pm for the 6:30 games.  I left the apartment at 4pm and right away at LM I saw Dario and his female friend working on a crossword puzzle.  After talking to them I saw Augusto having a business discussion (he’s an accountant, remember) with the owner of SanJote.  We made plans (again) to meet tomorrow morning to play chess.  I had the shish kebab and a mango juice at San Jote for 13mil.

A text message I received from the news department quoted Santos (the president) as saying “With infrastructure and peace, the economy grew 7%”.

I left LM at 5pm and walked south to Calle 35 where I saw a bus just leaving.  About 5 minutes later another arrived.  (One of the restaurants we drove past is named Oye Bonita.  Now I know “bonita” means “beautiful” and in the movies I noticed that everytime someone says “hey” in English they translate it to “oye” so the restaurant’s name is “hey beautiful”.)  The bus stopped for a couple minutes in the rush hour traffic which gave us time to watch a man feeding birds (they looked like swallows) by throwing pieces of bread up in the air for them to catch with the pigeons picking up the pieces they missed.  As we were coming down the west side of the Stadium we heard a noise like the bus hit something.  Sitting in the last seat I looked out the back window and saw a large broken off branch but nothing in the street.  I think he just got too close to the curb and probably scraped the bus against a previously broken branch.  Anyway, he stopped the bus, got out and walked around the bus but didn’t appear to see any damage.  In 15 minutes (rush hour) I was at the northwest corner of the stadium and a short walk later I was at the Paul Keres chess center.  

Of course I was there at 5:30, 30 minutes early.  First order of business was to find out what the time control is.  In America I remember playing 40/2 most often where you had to make 40 moves in 2 hours and there are faster tournaments like 30/1 where you had to make 30 moves in 1 hour.  I finally found Oscar who told me the time control is 1 hour for the whole game – although each time you make a move the clock adds 3 seconds to your total time.

While I was waiting the only ladies I saw there seemed to be girlfriends and not chess players but as the games began I did see a few ladies playing. 

Finally just before 7pm they put up the pairings.  My opponent had a rating of 1902.  My last rating when I played in the States was 1693.  When there is a 200 point difference in the ratings statistically the lower rated player only has something like a 4% chance of winning.  (Because of that if the higher rated player wins (as he should) then the higher rated player only gains something like 4 points and the lower rated player loses only 4 points.  If the lower rated player should win then the higher rated player loses something like 30 points and the lower rated player gains 30.  At least that’s as I remember it.)

One interesting thing is that the chair I was sitting in waiting for them to put up the pairings is exactly where I ended up sitting for my game.  At least I had white because I have an opening I try to use but I’m pretty lost when it comes to black.  I opened pawn to king 4 and he opened pawn to queen bishop 5 – the Sicilian defense (the most popular defense against my opening move).  My next move was also pawn to queen bishop 4 so right away, being the stronger player, he knew this was going to be a fight for control of the queen pawn 5 square.

At one point in the middle of the game he had 6 pieces and pawns attacking that square and I had 6 defending it.  At that point I was pretty tied up not knowing what to move next.  He finally moved his queen from attacking that square and I move one of my rooks off to threaten the rook pawn next to his king.  Then things opened up quickly with the exchanging of pawns and pieces and I attacked his rook with my knight.  What he must not have seen is on my next move I could move my knight a different direction and fork his king and queen.  A couple moves later I pushed my queen down and checked his king.  When the king moved I took his rook pawn with my rook threatening mate in 1 and he resigned.  At that point I had 18 minutes left on my clock and he had over an hour – which shows you how quickly he was making his decisions.

One problem with winning against a stronger player is that my next game most likely isn’t going to be any easier.

As often happens when I feel I am taking control over the game my hands started shaking for the last few moves.  I reported my win to the TD (tournament director) and finally they wrote down my rating of 1693.  I sat back down in my chair for a few minutes and a young lady (pretty of course) came up to me with a big fancy camera and asked to take my picture for some bulletin.  She also asked me for a caption for the photo and I said “the goal is to get better”.  In hindsight I should have said “the goal is to play your best”.

Since the game ended so early I was able to catch a bus back instead of having to pay for a taxi.  Just as I was approaching the bus stand from a distance a bus pulled up and of course I thought I’d missed another one but for some reason he sat there for a couple of minutes giving me just enough time to get to it.

On the way home I saw a (very small) store on Calle 35 named “El Gran Cañon” which I guess is “the grand canyon”.

I got off the bus at Calle 35 & Carrera 83A and in 5 minutes I was back at the apartment.  

To celebrate I decided to watch a movie on Netflix so I watched the 2011 movie Margin Call (7.1) starring Kevin Spacey.  Per Netflix: “An Analyst uncovers information that could destroy his employer in this drama about an investment bank in the early days of the 2008 financial crisis.”

I went to bed at 11:30 but didn’t sleep well all night finally getting up about 7am.

For breakfast I walked over to Fresco Pan and had a cup of coffee and a croissant from Andrea for 1,600 pesos (84 cents).  Their croissants aren’t as good as Los Mejores but the location is closer.  I stopped at the Tinto store and had another cup of coffee hoping to be able to chat a little with Gonzalo but only Maria was there.  I talked to her a little and I communicated to her that I am still looking for a girlfriend – only one - but a special one.  Maybe she’ll pass the message on to her sister Patricia.

Then I went to LM and called Augusto but he said he has to work today.  I guess I can’t make too much out of his saying “let’s play chess tomorrow”.  Is this an example of Colombiano Tiempo?  I saw Harry and he said he has to go back to Guatemala to try to sell his office and his apartment.  He mentioned he has heart arrhythmia (irregular heart rhythm) that he takes medicine for.

For lunch I decided to try Pizza Americana a couple blocks north of my apartment.  It’s time I tried some new places.  I dropped off my chess bag and headed over there but it was closed.  Now I see on their flyer they are only open 4pm to 10pm weekdays and noon to 10pm on weekends.  I went back to my apartment and called Dario who said he would be at LM at 2pm.  

For lunch I had a burger with crispy onions for 4mil (with BK coupon) and a medium Pepsi for 3900 for a total of 7,900 ($4.16).  I didn’t want a lot of food because I’ll be eating again about 5pm.

Dario showed up right at 2pm but informed me he has a business meeting with a couple men in a few minutes but I had time to show him my win from last night.  We also played a quick game which he won.

On my way past Viva I noticed workmen taking down the large vertical “!” signs on the outside of the mall.

As I was walking back to my apartment I saw Bob talking to someone at the corner store.

BTW, my Nook book Executive Decision is 1,238 pages long, 2 pages longer than my previous long read.

My next game is tonight at 6:30 and they are more likely to start on time tonight but still I don’t think I need to leave the apartment before 5pm.

Getting Approved for an Apartment in Colombia

Per slamanda128

In Colombia, you can't just find an apartment and sign a contract the same day (well, unless the apartment is for rent by owner which is almost always the better and easier option). When renting from a company "inmobiliaria" like Century 21 for example, you have to first apply to an insurance company and wait one day for them to approve you for the apartment.

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014

Last night I spent a couple hours on www.ChessMagnetSchool.com and got promoted to Earl then Guardian then Herald and then Jouster and my rating thus far is 1181.  That sounds way too low to me!

I went to bed at 11pm, got up once during the night, woke up about 5, didn’t get back to sleep until about 5:30, woke up at 7 and got up at 7:15 feeling pretty good.

I emailed Reina inviting her to join me for the Super Bowl but she responded she was sorry but she has to work all day, every day.  I don’t know yet what she is doing – maybe one of those cell phone girls.

I had my usual breakfast at Pasabocas Krocantes.  That’s too complicated a name; I think from now on I’m just going to call it the PacMan restaurant.

While I was waiting for and then eating my breakfast there was a young black man in an Angry Birds cap sitting by himself not doing anything.  About 10am he came over and I don’t know what he said but I asked him if he played chess and he said “a little”.  He wasn’t very good; I won all 6 games we played but I did give him some tips.  I asked him if he was waiting for some man and he said “no”.  I asked him if he was waiting for some woman and he said “no”.  He said he’s there for work.  Later the lady from the PacMan restaurant came over and talked to him so I think he was there hoping to work for them – probably deliveries from what I heard her say.  His name was Juan.

Around noon a man named Oscar stopped by.    He’s an older man I met once before (back on July 19^th), I even have his cell phone number although he’s never called me to play chess.

About 1pm I had an empanada and a Coke (4 mil) from the PacMan restaurant, just enough hopefully to tide me over until about 4pm.

Augusto never did show up.

The high today is only supposed to be 78 and it does feel nice and cool.  From about 1:50 to 2pm it rained a little; the first rain I remember in quite some time.

My plan today is to leave the apartment this afternoon about 4pm, have dinner at LM and then take a bus to the stadium where we are supposed to meet at 6pm for the 6:30 start.  I’ll probably need to take a jacket because we will be playing in an open air, although covered, area. 

I checked online to see if my Cedula number was on the immigration list for pickup.  This time I noticed there’s more than 1 page.  I checked all 22 pages and I am still not on the list.  It was last updated this Monday, January 20^th so I guess I should check more often than just once a week.

I finally saw the man across the street leaning out the window smoking a cigarette and their SUV is parked in the driveway where they always put it when they are working in their basement so I guess their 4-6 week vacation is over and they are back to work.

2:35 and it started raining again, this time heavily.  It stopped after about 20 minutes.  At 3:03 it started raining again for another 20 minutes.

I’ll probably also need to wear the rare long sleeved short tonight.