Tuesday, November 17th, 2015

I fell asleep quickly, got up once about 3am, was awakened by barking dogs about 5am and woke/got up at 9am.

Again today Peluche’s right hind leg is literally just hanging.  Hopefully we’ll pick up some pain medication today so at least he’ll be feeling better soon.

I thought we were going to Caldas today to pick up some things but once again plans changed.  I think because we’re going to Laura’s graduation tomorrow morning in Caldas we’ll probably pick up some things after.

It was a very cool morning as we left the finca at 11:05 and the killer dogs quickly came out.  I gave each of them a dog biscuit and we continued up the hill with the boxweiler following behind.  We only had to wait about 5 minutes for a bus.

The bus maked a stop at an exit next to the highway in Caldas and I noticed sharp rocks now embedded in the ground/cement under the bridge.  Perhaps it’s to keep the homeless from sleeping there?

We stopped at the beauty shop in Envigado where I left Teresa to get her hair done and a manicure/pedicure.  We agreed to meet back there in an hour.  In Parque Envigado I walked around about 30 minutes observing other people’s chess games.  I ran into Alan and I told him I thought today he was supposed to be on a plane back to the States for a week.  He told me plans changed, his wife wants to go with him for a vacation so he will be gone the middle of December.  I finally found an opponent - an old man who threw a lot of pawns at me but I dispatched him pretty easily.  Back at the beauty shop Teresa told me she would meet me in the park in an hour.  Back at the park I quickly found a young man in his mid twenties who invited me for a game.  He had me in a little trouble early but I pushed him back and started pressuring him.  I checked him all over the place and finally early in the endgame I exchanged my rook for his knight to give me 2 passed pawns.  His king was on the other side of the board so I was pretty sure I would be able to queen one of them when he made a mistake allowing me to fork his king and rook with my knight and he resigned.  So far I’m undefeated in Parque Envigado but I’m sure in a similar park in Russia I would be getting slaughtered so my head isn’t too big yet.  Teresa met me as I was finishing and gave me the change from her manicure and pedicure that cost 36mil.  She informed me that the girl didn’t know how to color hair.

We walked over to Carbón de Leña where we had a late lunch.  For me it was my monthly hamburger, fries, and Pepsi and for Teresa it was the special of the day – goulash for about 30mil.  The goulash looked pretty good so I’ll have to remember to get it next time they offer it.  As we were leaving, the Colombia vs Argentina futbol game was just starting.

We walked a few blocks away to a pet store I recall passing many times in the past.  Going inside, first there were a number of aquariums with fish, a cage with a couple kittens and a plastic cage with about 20 mice of different colors.  Teresa talked to a girl at the counter and then I followed her into the back.  On one side there was a small room with a white poodle that looked like it had just gotten a traditional cut.  Teresa talked to someone for awhile who I assume was a veterinarian.  A young man came in with a beautiful Huskie and they took it into the trimming room.  The Vet gave Teresa a sleeve of about 12 tablets for 18mil.  Back at the counter I understood Teresa change her mind and didn’t purchase the pills.  She wants to come back with Peluche tomorrow for the veterinarian to examine him.

We stopped at Exito where we picked up a few things and then took a taxi to the highway.  A Tratam bus was already there and Teresa had the taxi cut in front of him so we could get on.  We both got a seat near the front of the bus.

Walking up the sideroad wasn’t as hot as usual as it was overcast and threatening rain.  As we were approaching the top of the hill we saw waiting for us were both killer dogs.  Teresa told me not to give them any more dog biscuits but I gave each of them one.  They followed us nicely down the path until we got about even with Guillermo’s house and the German shepherd started barking.  Then they started barking at us and acting aggressive but I managed to edge my way down the path.

We got back to the finca by 4:30.  For a change I wasn’t sweating although I still felt a little warm.

I googled the futbol game and it ended in regulation 0-0; how exciting, but Argentina won 5-4 in penalty kicks.  :(

I set the alarm on my cell phone for 7am.  Teresa also wanted me to set another alarm (which it can do) for Laura for 5:30.  I told her the problem with that is that if the alarm wakes me at 5:30 I won’t be able to get back to sleep.

It’s good to see the Colombian Peso over 3,000 again.

I took my sleeping pills at 10:30pm and went to bed at 10:50.

T-shirt of the day: Live by the sun, love by the moon.  Haven’t I seen this before?