Friday, March 13th, 2015

I slept well last night until 4am when Teresa got up to help Laura.  After that I just rested finally getting up at 8:30.

I checked the US movie openings and I would like to see Run All Night (7.2) and It Follows (7.3) sounds interesting.

We left the finca at 10:30 and I gave the doberman a large dog biscuit that kept him occupied long enough for us to get away.  On the way down the sideroad we saw some fresh cement that had been poured in a previously bare area of the road.

We only had to wait 5 minutes for a bus to Envigado.  The driver dropped us off behind Home Center so we had only a short walk to Exito.

I took quite a bit of cash out of the Exito ATM while Teresa got in line to repay the credit card.  She was unsuccessful in reaching Wilson or Martha by cell phone so she sent me across the street to Bocados Bar to bring Wilson but only Martha was there.  We checked both our phones and I understood neither of us had the correct cell phone number of the other.  After we got that straightened out I went back to Teresa and had her call Martha again.  I understood that Wilson found out that the bicycles he wants to buy and charge to Teresa’s card are on sale tomorrow so we have to come back.  We paid off Teresa’s Exito credit card of 250mil.  She bought packages of peanuts and gum and we used my Exito points card.  I have 53,482 points and I understood that Teresa asked the checker and found out I could trade my points for cash.  I said I would prefer that so we went over to the Exito customer service booth.  We both gave the lady there our Cedulas and she looked something up and gave each of us a piece of paper with a different 6-digit number on each.  We went back to one of the tellers who entered each of the 6-digit numbers and then we each had to enter a 4-digit pin number.  Then I understood the checker told Teresa that we could only use points for purchase discounts.  I didn’t learn anything new in that transaction.

We walked across the street where we had lunch at La Bahia for 18mil.   Today they didn’t have chicken so I took a chance and ordered beef.   Usually Colombian beef is so tough you can’t chew it but they must have tenderized the heck out of it because it was quite tender – even if it did taste like tenderizer.

We walked up the hill where Teresa spent about 15 minutes talking to the lady who recently fixed the hem on her blouse.

Today was a cloudy day, thankfully, and Teresa didn’t think it was hot but I didn’t agree.  It probably isn’t hot to a gringo if you don’t move but I walked back and forth to the bar and then up the steep hill.

We walked a few more blocks where we caught a bus to Santafe mall.  We walked about 3 blocks up another steep hill and down another to the building the lawyer lives in.  Teresa sat outside while I went in alone.  I think she wanted to cool off.  I picked up my documents and paid him 420mil for the 7 Apostilled signatures.  James asked me if we wanted to apply for the Union Libre and I told him we found out there are complications because Teresa’s daughter is underage.  James responded that there are ways to get around that.

We took a taxi to MBE etc. where they gave me 3 envelopes: one was the payment detail for my Sears pension payment for March, another was a change of address confirmation from CSC, and the last was the payment detail for my Zurich pension payment for March.  If I haven’t already requested it, I need to call Sears and Zurich and request not to send me a payment detail every month.

I paid 15mil which I think was for the 3 envelopes.

I also paid 37,454.85 but I had no idea what it was for.  When I got back to the finca I asked Teresa about it and she said it was for my March rent.  I showed her the receipt from back in February when I paid February and March’s rent on the same day.  Teresa changed her tune and then said it was for April’s rent.  I don’t think she knows what and when it was for so she’s going to call MBE tomorrow morning to inquire.

I gave them my Apostilled documents and chose a Fed-Ex delivery date of next Wednesday for 94,600 (about $36).  They tried to enter the information into the computer but the system (not sure if it’s MBE or Fed-Ex) wouldn’t accept 200 W. Higgins Road.  We tried abbreviating and not abbreviating various portions of the address but it still wouldn’t accept it.  Finally the lady googled the address, found it was accurate, and wrote up the order manually.

When we left I stopped at a Gana store where I added 20mil to my cell phone.  

We walked up the hill about 10 blocks to Vizcaya CC for the 3:10 showing of The Imitation Game for 15mil.  (After what I think has been 2 years it looks like they might almost be finished remodeling the mall.)  I ordered a medium popcorn and a large soda for me and a medium soda for Teresa.  As I expected we both enjoyed the movie very much.  We got out of the theatre at 5:30 and took a taxi down to the highway.  After a 10 minute wait we decided to take a bus to Caldas first.  Because of traffic and stops we didn’t get to Caldas until 7pm.  After another 5 minute wait we were on a bus to the finca.  We got past the killer dogs undetected and were at the finca just after 7:30.

If we visit Chicago this June one of the places I would like to take them is the Ravinia Music Festival.  The Gipsy Kings are playing there on Wednesday the 17^th so if we arrive on the 16^th or earlier we would be able to see them.  (The Ravinia Festival is the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States, with a series of outdoor concerts and performances held every summer from June to September. It has been the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1936.  The Gipsy Kings are a group of musicians from Arles and Montpellier in the south of France who perform in Spanish with an Andalusian accent.)

Laura didn’t get back to the finca until after 10:30.

I took my sleeping pills at 10:30 and we went to bed at 11pm.

T-shirt of the day: I’m young and in love.