Thursday, February 5, 2015

Wednesday, February 4th, 2015



I slept from 11pm until 3:45 just before Laura would get up.  I slept more or less until my cell phone alarm went off at 6:30am.  Teresa got up 15 minutes later.

I took my shower, had cereal for breakfast and was ready to go by 7:45.

I wanted to confirm everything with Teresa before we left.  I thought we were also going to Envigado today but she told me that would be tomorrow.  I listed the places we would be going to in Caldas today and she said we would be paying the electric bill tomorrow in Envigado.  Five minutes later she listed all the places we would be going to in Caldas and she mentioned paying the electric bill.  I questioned her on that and she changed it to Envigado.

As we were leaving at 8:15 she told me I forgot the electric bill.  I reminded her we will be paying it tomorrow in Envigado. And I thought I had a bad memory!

As we passed the neighbor’s house the killer dogs barked at us behind their fence.  We had to wait about 20 minutes to catch a bus to Caldas.

First we made a stop at the ATM so I could take out more cash then we walked up to Merkepaisa.  Because vegetables are on sale today that area of the store was a madhouse with people trying to choose and bag their vegetables and stockers trying to get past them in the narrow aisles to put up new stock.

We finally got out of there just before 10am after Teresa and I had a miscommunication over who would pay for it.  Now I understand that because I only gave her 500mil on the first of the month and she purchased some groceries last weekend and all the meat yesterday, she didn’t have enough cash to pay the 344,100 pesos today so I paid for it with my debit card.  (We settled that after we got back to the finca.  I gave her the 500mil and took back 345mil.  From now on I’ll give her the full 1 million pesos at the beginning of each month.)

Walter was waiting for us with his taxi and we made one stop so we could pay another 100mil towards the exercise machine.  I guess Laura forgot to do that a few days ago.

At the finca he drove all the way down the path until we got to where it’s covered with rocks.  Between the 3 of us we managed to carry everything down in one trip and I gave him 20mil.

I had Teresa call a hotel in Manizales.  Now I have to put her in touch with my Spanish speaking brother so I can find out what she learned.

I hadn’t been upstairs in the loft in several weeks so I followed Teresa when she was going up again.  She has it pretty well organized with a card table in the middle.  I asked her why she didn’t have a lightbulb in the socket above and I understood she wasn’t sure the lightbulb she has worked.  I took out a working bulb from another socket and tried her lightbulb and it worked.  I then put it in the socket above her head but it didn’t work.  I asked her where the switch is and she didn’t know.  We looked around but didn’t find one that worked on that socket; another thing for the electrician to look at when he finally arrives.

One of my readers recommended a sleeping pill he named Zipicloma.  I assume that’s the Spanish name for Zipiclone.  According to Wikipedia (quote sources removed) “Zopiclone (brand names Zimovane and Imovane) is a nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic agent used in the treatment of insomnia. It is a cyclopyrrolone, which increases the normal transmission of the neurotransmitter GABA in the central nervous system, as benzodiazepines do, but in a different way.
As zopiclone is sedating, it is marketed as a sleeping pill. It works by causing a depression or tranquilization of the central nervous system. After prolonged use, the body can become accustomed to the effects of zopiclone. When the dose is then reduced or the drug is stopped, withdrawal symptoms may result. These can include a range of symptoms similar to those of benzodiazepine withdrawal.
In the United States, zopiclone is not commercially available, although its active stereoisomer, eszopiclone, is sold under the name Lunesta. Zopiclone is a controlled substance in the United States, Japan, Brazil, and some European countries, and may be illegal to possess without a prescription.
Zopiclone is known colloquially as a "Z-drug." Other Z-drugs include zaleplon (Sonata) and zolpidem (Ambien and AmbienCR) and were initially thought to be less addictive and/or habit-forming than benzodiazepines. However, this appraisal has shifted somewhat in the last few years as cases of addiction and habituation have been presented. Zopiclone is recommended to be taken on a short-term basis, usually a week or less. Daily or continuous use of the drug is not usually advised.
After reading that I don’t think it’s something I want to take without a doctor’s prescription but I thank him for thinking of me.

We started watching The Siege (6.3) and stopped again at 8pm to watch Master Chef.  The chefs had to make what they said was mousaka but it looked more like pastitsio (Greek lasagna) to me.

I took my sleeping pills at 10:15 and we went to bed at 10:30.

T-shirt of the day: A rolling stone gathers no moss.

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