Saturday, November 29th, 2014

I felt I slept well last night despite getting up twice during the night and the dogs constantly barking at something.  Teresa said it was Luna barking at other dogs or animals.  We might have to lock her up every night in order to have some peace and quiet.

I got up at 8:30 and Teresa informed me that when I turned on the surge protector last night to recharge my iPad I also turned on the waffle maker so it must have been on all night.  Oops!  Next time I’m done using it I have to make sure I unplug it.

While looking at pictures of Medellin on my iPad I recognized the area where we were last Tuesday next to Plaza Mayor with the fountain, sand pit, and pool - they call it Barefoot Park.

I got another identical email from MBE at 10:35 last night so I’m sure they are computer generated every 3 hours.  I checked their website and I see the Estatus is still “Falta Valor” or “lacking value” so I also sent my letter of explanation to MBE using their email address of CO0028@CO.MBELATAM.com.  Hopefully, that will satisfy their request.

I see all my pension deposits have been made for December.

Teresa brought down a few Christmas things from the loft storage area.

We took a nap from 1:30 to 3:30.

Laura left at 5:30.  I understood she will stay with someone in Envigado and return on Monday.

I told Teresa I’ve been saving the best movies for all 3 of us to watch together and I asked Teresa if Laura wasn’t interested in joining us.  Teresa told me not to wait for Laura to join us.

We started watching Sleeping With the Enemy.

At 6:30 a thunderstorm started coming through so we stopped the movie and unplugged everything.  Luna started scratching at the door, she’s afraid of the thunder and lightning, so Teresa let her and Tony in the house.  The storm seemed to have passed 20 minutes later.

We finished Sleeping With the Enemy and then we started Rain Man.  I wasn’t sure if she would have a problem with that because her first son was autistic.  Forty minutes into the movie she said she was very tired and needed to sleep for 5 minutes.  She napped twice for 10 minutes each and then felt better.

Later she told me more about her autistic son Sebastian.  He wouldn’t talk and would kind of slap the side of his head with his hands.  He couldn’t take the noise in Envigado which is probably why Teresa built the finca outside town.

I found my Internet Explorer browser wasn’t working right but luckily I didn’t seem to have trouble using Mozilla Firefox.  My virus protector kept giving me warnings about a virus named srptm.exe.  I tried to uninstall everything that I might have downloaded on 11/28/14.

I took my sleeping pill at 9:30, we locked up Luna in the shed, Teresa took her shower and put some things away and we went to bed at 10:30.

T-shirt of the day: Look at me now.

Friday, November 28th, 2014

Even though I got up 3 times during the night I felt I slept well.  I heard the dogs going crazy from about 6am to 6:30 from the tree trimming going on down by the highway.  I finally woke/got up at 8am.

Teresa wants me to make waffles this morning but we decided to just have a small bowl of cereal while we wait for Laura to wake up.

Teresa told me she had a dream that I had returned to the States and she was very sad about it.  I told her I don’t have money to return to the States.

I guess Teresa wanted to do a real good cleaning of the living room area as she moved all the furniture out and the pieces that were too big I helped her set them up on end.

Teresa asked me where I think we should put the TV after the stairs are installed.  I want to wait until I can see exactly where the stairs are going to be but she wants me to tell her now.  One problem is she doesn’t have many electrical outlets, especially the 3 pronged ones, and the one near the stairs might be blocked by them.

Laura got up about 10am and I started putting together the waffle mix.  I was showing off a little by cracking the eggs with one hand but the last one spilled a little onto the floor.  I guess Teresa will be doing all the egg cracking from now on.  Again I put too much waffle mix in 2 of the quadrants of the waffle maker and some spilled out over the edges.  I’m still trying to figure out when enough is enough.

I checked the new US movie releases and I would like to see The Imitation Game (8.4). 

Locally, I would like to see A Walk Among the Tombstones (6.7) and I would still like to see Interstellar (8.9) but all their showtimes are too late, except El Tesoro which is too far away.

I tried researching some more to find some way of viewing movies that I can’t find in Netflix.  I tried to follow one expat’s advice to use Torrent but after a while I got a little worried I might be downloading something harmful to my computer.  I did find I could rent a few movies using iTunes.

I saw a couple TV commercials for Black Friday, both in English and Spanish as Viernes Negra.

At 4:35 I received an email from MBE that the Super Nintendo is in Miami but they need a Confirmation Invoice or Purchase Order.  I used their enclosed link to inform them that “This is a used Super Nintendo Entertainment System, from 1991, that my son is sending me so there's no confirmation invoice or purchase order.  I value the complete system at about $100USD.” in both English and Spanish so I hope that works.

After dinner we started watching A Perfect Getaway.

At 7:35 I got another MBE email exactly the same as the first so I’m guessing it is automatically sent again 3 hours later.

We finished the movie which she liked very much and then we started Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

Teresa was very tired so we stopped the movie at 9:30, I took my sleeping pill, she took a shower and we went to bed at 10:15.

Thursday, November 27th, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

There is a restaurant in Medellin that is serving a traditional Thankgiving feast but their first seating is at 5pm and I figured that would be much later than I want to be returning to the finca.

I got up once during the night, woke up at 7am when Teresa and Laura were leaving and got up at 8am.

I looked at the documents that Teresa left behind yesterday and they look like Laura’s birth certificates.

I had a small bowl of granola for breakfast.

Teresa and Laura came back at 9:30.  Teresa had some good news about Laura but I didn’t understand any of it.  After I thought about it a little more I realized Laura doesn’t have to study anymore until she starts back to school in January.

At noon I noticed Direct TV channel 626 (ESPN 3) is showing Italian fútbol highlights but the Bears game will be starting right after at 12:30.  But because today’s game is being shown on CBS I could probably watch it on USTVNOW.

I found the USTVNOW broadcast but it is on a smaller screen in English with American commercials.  The Direct TV broadcast is full screen but is in Spanish only with Colombian commercials.

By just switching from HDMI 3 to HDMI 1 I can easily switch from the Direct TV broadcast to the CBS broadcast.  What was interesting is when I did that after the Bears first TD I saw the touchdown again LIVE which means the Direct TV broadcast is about a minute ahead of the CBS broadcast.

After the first half 2 minute warning I saw Detroit run 2 plays on offense (Direct TV) and then switched to CBS where I saw the preceding punt to them so the time difference may be even greater.  Very interesting!

The Bears ended up losing 34-17.  

We started watching Reservior Dogs but Teresa didn’t like it so I switched to Seven which she liked very much.  Then we watched Premonition which she found interesting.

I saw one of the weekly lottery drawings on TV and the winning numbers were 5948.

I took my sleeping pill at 10pm and we went to bed at 10:45.

T-shirt of the day: Sun and blue.

Wednesday, November 26th, 2014

I forgot to take my sleeping pill so it took a little while to fall asleep but I didn’t get up at all during the night.  Teresa got up about 7am to help Laura get ready.  I got up right after, took 2 Excedrin for a little pain behind my eyes, and went back to bed.  I got up at 8am feeling much better.

The dogs have been going a little crazy this morning; perhaps because of the tree trimming going on down by the highway.

Before meeting with Natalia, Teresa wanted to stop at Unicentro and talk to some gay man named Carlos about painting some of her furniture.  Luckily she called first and found out he doesn’t do that so we saved ourselves making an unnecessary trip.

I translated the following for Teresa to ask Natalia:

“I understand my medical insurance is to be paid on the 1st of every month.  Because the banks are so crowded on the 1st I usually pay the day before and send a copy of the receipt on the 1st.

Next month, December, the day before the 1st is a Sunday when banks aren't open.

The question I would like you to ask Natalia is:

How early or late can I make my monthly medical insurance payment?”

We left the finca at 11:15 for our meeting with Natalia so Teresa can talk to her about my medical insurance and possibly add herself and Laura to my policy.

We managed to get past the killer dogs undetected.  We didn’t see anyone clearing more brush away on the highway.  We caught an express bus to Aguacatala after only a 2 minute wait.  Unfortunately, on the way, Teresa remembered she left some documents she needs back at the finca so she called Natalia and rescheduled the meeting for next Monday, December 1^st.  She has to call tomorrow to find out what time.

Instead she wanted to go to Unicentro but first we took the Circular Sur bus to Exito Laureles where we had lunch.  Teresa had her usual chicken Frischuleta at Frisby with juice for 20,200 and I had the sweet and sour chicken that they call Pollo Mandariyaki at Sarku for 16,500.  We left there about 1:30 and took a taxi to Unicentro for about 6mil.  Teresa met her friend Ana there at a store just outside the mall that sells artistic things for the home.  Teresa wanted to meet a gay man there but I understood the wrong one was there and the right one should be there on Saturday.  Teresa said she liked their things but they were too expensive.

After about 30-60 minutes we went into Exito where we each had a coffee, and Ana also a slice of cheesecake, for 16,703.

We took a taxi to Home Center for another 6mil where we bought 3 flower pots, 3 small batteries, a magnifying glass, and a small paint roller for 59,100.

We left at 4pm and took a Circular Sur bus to Aquacatala where we caught an express bus.  We got past the killer dogs undetected and were back at the finca by 6pm.

At 7pm I had a sandwich and cup of coffee.

I’ve been playing Words With Friends on my iPad with my son for the last few years and yesterday my daughter joined me in a game.  I won the first one.  She had a 40 point lead early in the second game but I just used all 7 letters with a TW score for a total of 87 to take the lead.

I have to mention that over the past few weeks I’ve noticed that my arthritis has gotten worse.  I sometimes feel it in my wrists and my thumbs.  It isn’t often but all I have to do is move wrong and I feel a shot of pain.  I shared this with Teresa and she has a friend with arthritis and will get her doctor’s information.

Early tomorrow morning Teresa is going to Caldas with Laura to sign some school document for her vacation so I gave her 20mil to recharge my cell phone and another 20 to buy more eggs and dog food.

I watched another episode of Homeland.

I took my sleeping pill at 9:30 and we went to bed at 10:30. 

T-shirt of the day: I can’t focus it is too hot.

Tuesday, November 25th, 2014

It took a while to fall asleep because of the itching but I only got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 8am.

I had something different for breakfast.  Teresa made me beef fajitas.  They were very tasty but I could only eat two and left about 30% of the fixings in the pan.  In time she’ll learn not to serve me so much food.

I checked my MBE account online but my package hasn’t shown up in Miami yet.  I'll check it every day and see if I notice it there before I receive their notification email.

When I posted yesterday’s activities I noticed it appears I am averaging about 8 readers a day for my blog.

We left the finca at 10:10 and got past the neighbor’s dogs undetected, probably because of so much noise coming from the highway.

Where the side road meets the highway workers were cleaning brush on both sides of the road.  I saw them cutting tree trunks the width of my thigh using only machetes.

After a 10 minute wait we caught an express bus to Aquacatala where after another 5 minutes we were on a bus to Edificio Intelligente.

After waiting in line to see the receptionist she told us we could pay at BanColombia which was right behind.  We went over to BanColombia and, 12:05, they had just closed and wouldn’t reopen until 2pm.  Teresa took me to another place nearby to pay the bill.  After a 5 minute wait I understood I couldn’t use my debit card – they only took cash.  I walked to the other end of the building where I took 300mil out of the ATM which was just enough to pay my last Une bill of 252,964.

We walked across the street to Plaza Mayor where first we were confronted by 2 young ladies with clipboards.  I understood they just asked Teresa where we were both from and for me I know she said Chicago, US and for that they gave me a free map of Medellin.

We had lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants - Restaurant Chips.  I wasn’t real hungry so I ordered the fried chicken strips with a mango/strawberry/blackberry juice and Teresa the fish with a juice.  I didn’t have a lot of cash and I didn’t want to use all my small bills so I walked to the other end of the outdoor food court where I took another 300mil out of an ATM.

Teresa called Natalia and she said she could meet with us today at 4pm.

It’s nice to sit outside and watch the ladies in their high heels walk to and from their offices to lunch.  At one point a very petite Colombiana with very large boobs walked by.  She had her blouse opened quite a bit so everyone could see how large and full they were.  Teresa pointed her out to me (like I hadn’t noticed her) and said something like “I wouldn’t want my daughter to have those”.

The mall plaza has some diversions for children: a fountain for them to run through, a small wading pool, and a sand pit.

Teresa’s order came with cole slaw and I got a mixed salad so we switched.  The total came to 38,880.

It was only 1:15 so Teresa called Natalia back and told her that 4pm today was too late so she got an appointment for tomorrow at 2pm.

We walked a couple blocks where we caught a bus to Envigado.  We got off at Exito where first I bought another months’ supply of Tamsulosin for 42,600 only this time it was a different brand – Genfar – and it was called Tamsulosina Clorhidrato.

Then we went into Exito proper where we picked out a few things we need for 120,060.  At one point one of the ladies working there took down a bottle and gave us each a taste of something called “hugo de uva” which looked like grape juice and tasted like grape juice and when I got back to the finca I found that it translates to grape juice.

We each carried a couple bags of groceries a few blocks to where we caught an express bus to the finca.

The workers had stopped trimming trees in that area and when we got to the top of the hill we met Don Carlos coming up with his friendly dog which only gave each of us a sniff.  As we walked by the neighbor’s house the Doberman was waiting on the path for us.  He growled threateningly but the other dogs didn’t join him and I tried to just look at him with my peripheral vision with my pepper spray ready but he didn’t approach any closer.

We were back at the finca by 3:45.

We forgot to buy dog food so Teresa called Laura to pick some up on her way back from school.

At 5:30 Teresa made me a sandwich with coffee and then we watched The Edge which she really liked.

I put Caladryl on my few mosquito bites and we went to bed at 10:30.

T-shirt of the day: Love me not.

Monday, November 24th, 2014

I got up twice during the night finally waking/getting up at 8am and Laura was already gone.

I copied the Une bill onto my flash drive just in case I should need it tomorrow.

At 1:40 it started raining, then 5 minutes later seemed to stop, then 5 minutes later came down much harder.  It stopped one hour later and 5 minutes after that it resumed.

I took a nap from 12:15 to 1:15 and Laura was back when I got up.

Teresa and I finished the bag of corn chips while we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which she liked very much.

She made a sandwich and coffee for me at 6:30 and then we watched No Country for Old Men.  I was afraid she was going to be turned off by the excessive violence but she really liked it.

I found the Monday night game of the week – NFL – on Direct TV and at first it was only in Spanish but when I went to the next channel in HD it allowed me to switch to English.

I have several new mosquito bites, most on my ankles and one on the inside of my upper arm.

I took my sleeping pill at 10pm and we went to bed at 11:15.

Sunday, November 23rd, 2014

I got up 3 times during the night, finally waking/getting up at 9am.  Maybe the reason I’m still getting up so often is because I’m drinking too much coffee and water with my pills late at night.  At least I’m sleeping better.

I found the business card for Natalia, my insurance rep.  I think Teresa wants to visit her sometime soon.  It looks like its downtown about 4 blocks from Parque Berrio.

At 12:45 I heard the Terriers going crazy and I heard some yelping and a little whining so I’m sure someone got bit.  I understand Don Carlos’ dog got too close to the house and the Terriers attacked him.  Even though he’s larger than two of the Terriers combined, I think they got the best of him and he got out of the area ASAP.

10 minutes later I heard them going crazy again and I think when any one of the Terriers is alone and gets too close to the larger dog the Terrier is in danger of getting bit.

1pm Eastern time and Tampa Bay at the Bears game started.

At 2pm I had a hamburger, salad and the last small bottle of Coke for lunch.

At halftime the Bears were behind 10-0.  The defense looked better but the offense wasn’t doing anything.

Teresa told me Don Carlos needs money for medicine so we gave him 50mil in advance for work he will do on the garden in December.

The Bears ended up coming from behind to win 21-13.  The offense finally woke up and the defense continued to play well.

We started watching The Princess Bride which is kind of a cult classic but Teresa didn’t care for it so we stopped after about 30 minutes.  If she didn’t like that I wonder how she would react to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Lol.

We ate some corn chips, similar to Fritos, while we watched Escape From Alcatraz that she liked very much and then The Thing that had her covering her eyes occasionally.

I took my sleeping pill at 10:10 and we went to bed at 11:15.

HOW TO MAKE FRENCH TOAST

It's actually better to make French toast with stale bread than with fresh, because stale bread will absorb more of the custard mixture than fresh bread will.  Indeed, it's traditional to make French toast from day-old bread.  But if all you have is fresh bread, try toasting it very slightly beforehand.

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 20 minutes; Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup half and half  (I substituted milk)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 8 slices regular white bread
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp butter  (optional)

Preparation:

1.     Pre-heat oven to 200°F. (optional; for keeping cooked french toast warm)

2.     Beat eggs thoroughly. Whisk in sugar, half and half and vanilla.

3.     Pour the custard mixture into a shallow glass dish. An inch deep should be fine.

4.     Heat your griddle to medium-low, and melt the butter on it.

5.     Soak a couple of slices of bread (but only as many your griddle can accommodate at once) in the custard while you count to ten. Flip them over and repeat.

6.     Carefully remove the soaked slices from the custard, letting the excess liquid drain into the dish, and transfer the bread to the griddle. Flip when the bottoms are golden brown. When the other sides are also golden brown, remove from the griddle.

7.     Serve French toast right away, or transfer it to a dish in the oven to keep warm.

Serves 4 people.

Saturday, November 22nd, 2014

I fell asleep quickly, got up twice during the night, made another trip to the bathroom at 6:30 and finally woke/got up with Teresa at 9:30.

At 10am I made French toast for Teresa and myself.  We each had 2 slices and though she ate it all she said she prefers waffles.  I took my shower and at 11:30am Laura got up and I made 4 more that I split with her.  She put a slice of cheese, Colombian style, on each to eat.  I dipped one of my slices in syrup and gave it to her so she would know how it’s supposed to taste.  When she said she could eat more I made more using 2 ends and assorted leftover pieces.  I asked her which she liked best, French toast or waffles and she said she liked both.

I got my recipe some time ago off the internet.  I’ll post the recipe online but I had to substitute milk for the half and half.  It says it makes 8 pieces but I think it’s closer to 10-12.

Teresa wants to go to Envigado today and buy some paints at Home Center.  I know there are a few other things we need from there.

I took a nap from 12:30 to 1:30; maybe all that cooking tired me out.  Lol.

When I got up Teresa was engrossed with watching some DIY shows on TV and I believe she wants to go to Envigado some other day like Tuesday.

My son emailed me that he has sent me our old Super Nintendo with lots of games.  Hopefully, there won’t be any trouble getting it past customs and it will be here in the next 3 weeks.

Laura left at 2:45.  I gave her 20mil to buy dog food and more margarine.

We were watching The Hunt for Red October when Teresa saw a cockroach on the wall above her painting.  She went to get the bug spray as I paused the movie.  I grabbed the fly swatter and then saw one under the table next to me.  I said “here” and she screamed and jumped down from the ladder.  I killed it and told her I said “here” not “there” and we had a good laugh.

 

Laura called and I understand she’s staying overnight at a friend’s house.

We started watching Little Miss Sunshine and 1 minute into it she said she didn’t like it.  Once again I had to convince her to give it a chance.  When we finished she found that she liked it.  I took my sleeping pill and then we finished The Arrival.

We went to bed at 11:30.

Friday, November 21st, 2014

It took me maybe 30 minutes to fall asleep, I got up once at 4:35, was still awake at 5am when I saw light starting to come through the shutters, at 5:45 when the first fireworks of the day went off, at 6:15 when the dogs started barking, and I finally woke/got up at 9am.

I gave Teresa the phone number of my insurance lady, Natalia, and they talked for a while with Teresa taking notes in one of my notebooks.  After they hung up it seemed like Teresa was telling me I should go to a different clinic for my test.  I called my brother using magicJack and had him talk to her.  I understand we have to go to an in-network doctor and have him refer me for the test so it will be covered under my insurance.  This is probably the beginning of my switching from the more expensive private specialists to the insurance covered public health care system.

While shaking the hairs out of my shaver outside, a butterfly landed close by and I grabbed it.  Before releasing it I showed it to Teresa and she said the area was full of butterflies before she built the finca here.

I gave each of the Terriers a dog biscuit for sitting, or nearly sitting.  Peter still needs to be forced into the sitting position.

I checked the US movie releases and I would like to see Hunger Games: The Mockingjay - Part 1 (7.6).  Locally I would still like to see Interstellar (9.0) playing at Los Molinos, Oviedo and Santafé.

I showed Teresa a pair of moccasins online that I would like to have to wear around the finca.  I’ve been wearing socks with my flip flops but I think they get holes in the toes from being stretched.  If we can’t find a pair in Medellin I can order them from the US for about $50.

We took a nap from about 2:15 to 3 when Laura came home.

I want to create some sort of a monthly budget so I will have the opportunity of knowing when I can’t afford something.  I spent several hours spreadsheeting our monthly expenses for October and November to date but I seem to be missing about $500 each month somewhere.

I finished Ken Follett’s 850 page novel Fall of Giants and downloaded his 807 page Winter of the World.

Laura wanted to join us for a movie tonight and she suggested a new title The Lovely Bones.  First I checked IMDB.com to make sure the title existed and then I checked Netflix to see if they carry it – they did.  After that Teresa made popcorn and the two of us watched Fargo.

I took my sleeping pill at 10:50 and we went to bed at 11:30.

Thursday, November 20th, 2014

I fell asleep quickly and got up once at 2am.  I fell back asleep and woke/got up at 8am.

I forgot to mention when I got up yesterday morning I saw a candle burning in the kitchen.  I asked Teresa if we lost electricity earlier and she said No, she was just praying that I would be okay.

Teresa asked me to make waffles this morning so I combined the two mixes with two eggs but I put too much mix in the waffle maker so there wasn’t enough left for another waffle.  After Teresa and I ate our waffles and I made more mix for Laura.  She got up at 11:15 and I had enough mix to make her ¾ of a waffle.

I asked to see Laura’s math homework and she’s doing trigonometry.  Unfortunately it’s been too long since I’ve studied that topic so I won’t be able to help her.

Laura left about 1pm for more math tutoring.

Teresa called Marta and I understand we have to go to the Une office (again) in the Intelligent Building to pay the 252,984 from October’s last bill.

Teresa recommends we go on Monday because there is too much traffic on Fridays.

I told Teresa I only have 8mil left on my cell phone so she called Laura and had her recharge my cell phone with 10mil and I could pay her back when she got home.

Laura came back about 7pm.

Teresa and I watched Witness and now I understand she likes dramas.  I started The Illusionist but during the opening credits she said she didn’t like it, maybe because of the old style writing and background.  I told her to give it a chance; she did but 10 minutes later she repeated she didn’t like it so I switched to The Arrival.

I took my sleeping pill at 10pm and we went to bed at 10:45.

CANCER INFORMATION

Private Message from ---------
               
Subject: Information on Cancer

Greetings.

I am writing because from time to time I follow your blog. Today I read that you are having some problem with your PSA.  I am a cancer survivor.  I was lucky, my cancer was in stage one and I have been cancer free for almost two years.

If you need to seek a second opinion or at some point you decide to become proactive, there is a cancer facility in Medellin (Clinica Las Americas) that has an agreement with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

At one point, I was thinking of moving to Medellin so I did extensive research on the availability of cancer treatment in Medellin in case the cancer should return while I was there.  For several years MD Anderson was ranked (US News Best Hospitals) the number one cancer hospital in the United States.  For 2015, U.S. News ranks it as number two.

Also when I was considering Medellin, I called MD Anderson to determine its relationship with Clinica Las Americas.  According to the person I spoke with, the Clinica follows all of MD Anderson’s treatment procedures, which makes it easy for a person to transfer to Houston for advance treatment, if needed.

Clinica Las Americas Headquarters: Cra 70 # 1-135 Torre switch 5: 340-9393.

I hope you never need to use this information but at least you know there is a facility close by that has an agreement with one the best cancer centers in the United States.

Good luck

PS:  I am the guy who sent you the information on USTVnow (a long time ago).  I spent seven plus years in Panama before I returned to the United States for cancer treatment.  I had three English-speaking doctors in Panama who treated me for eight months.  They could not determine what was causing my problems.  I finally decided to fly to the Cleveland Clinic for a second opinion, which led to a major surgery followed by Radiation and Chemo.

I worked at the American Embassy in Bogota for more than three years and based on my personal experience, the doctors in Colombia are excellent especially when compared to the doctors in Panama.

Harry

Wednesday, November 19th, 2014

I fell asleep quickly and only got up once at 4am.  A straight six hours sleep is pretty good for me.  I rested, but didn’t sleep again, partially from Luna and the other dogs barking, until about 6am when I saw light coming through edges of the shutters.  I woke/got up at 9:30 felling pretty refreshed.

Teresa called the doctor’s office and I understood we have to send an email requesting an appointment.  With Laura’s help she sent the request from my Yahoo email account.

Teresa got a call from Direct TV that we have to pay 59,400 today or they will cut us off this afternoon.  Apparently the bill went to Wilson’s apartment and we never heard about it.  And we have to pay another 143mil by December 10^th.

Teresa wants to leave right away to avoid the afternoon rains.  I got dressed and ready to go and then she announced she had to shower first.

I tricked Peter into coming into the finca so Teresa could put a towel over his head and put him in the shed.

We left the finca at 1:30 and were challenged by the killer dogs.  I sprayed the Doberman and one of the others with my spray and they ran away.  The stuff was so strong that the 3 of us felt a little discomfort for a few seconds.  I think Teresa told me not to use it on them again.  We took a bus to Mayorca where I took a little cash out of a BBVA ATM.  Teresa checked her blouse in the tailer shop but something must not have been satisfactory because she left without it.

We took a bus to Envigado.  I saw one fast food restaurant that I thought had a clever name: A & P – Arepas Pronto.  When we were driving past Sabaneta I asked Teresa if they have hotels there and she said Yes so maybe my brother will find a place to stay there afterall.  We had lunch at Carbón de Leña across the street from Parque Envigado which is still under construction.  I saw this on their Menu of the Day board for 9,500 pesos:

Goulash mixto

Arroz blanco

Sopa de yoca o crema de apio

Torta de espinaca

Ensalada y bebida

So I had to try their goulash.  It and the 2^nd soup that I ordered were very good although I knew I wouldn’t like the slice of spinach pie and neither did Teresa.  The goulash consisted of tasty, but chewy, small chunks of beef with peas and carrots.  Of course, the vegetables might not have been peas or carrots but some similar local vegetable.  The total came to about 25mil.

Teresa got a call from the Radiologist’s office and I understand my appointment is December 11^th at 2pm and the cost is 1,300,000COP.  She tells me we will have to leave the finca at 7am in order to be there by 1:30, the half hour early that we’re supposed to be.

We walked around, asking various people, and finally found where we could pay the Direct TV bill.  There were about 7 people ahead of us in line but with 3 cashiers it was a short wait.

We walked to La Abuela Isabel (Grandmother Isabel) where Teresa and I shared an ice cream with brownie for 3,900.

We walked down to Wilson’s bar and Teresa chatted with him while I watched an Athletico Nacional soccer game.  We stopped at the apartment and Teresa picked up some of her shoes and clothes.

We waited until about 7:15 and then took a taxi to the highway and waited 15 minutes for an express bus to the finca.  Once again we saw 3 seats with notes on them that we weren’t allowed to sit in.  I understand that one person can get on the bus and then save seats for friends that will be getting on with them shortly.  A man knows he’s old when a young lady on a crowded bus gives you her seat so I guess at the age of 69 I’ve officially arrived.

We were at the side road by 8:05 so it was a fast trip back.  Walking past the killer dogs in the dark the Doberman came out and challenged us but perhaps the other dog has learned it isn’t worth it.  I was glad for his barking and snarling because otherwise he would have been able to just walk up and bite me because in the dark I couldn’t easily see him.

When I got back to the finca I found a private message from one of my blog readers regarding cancer treatment here in Medellin.  I’ll post the information, lightly edited, just in case others here might be able to take advantage of his experience.

Laura came home at 9pm.

I checked the pharmacy receipt and my package of 14 3mg Isoklon sleeping pills cost 66,700, so after I cut them into thirds each of the 42 portions will cost me 1,588 pesos.  So I can get a good night’s sleep for about 75 cents.  

At 10pm I took a sleeping pill and we went to bed at 10:45.

T-shirt of the day: Drink coffee.