Tuesday, December 29th, 2015

It took me some time to fall asleep.  I got up once at 2:30, again at 5:30 finally waking/getting up at 8:45.

I understand Martha will call us when my visa is ready for pickup.

Chuchu is here again today working in the garden.

We left the finca at 12:20 and got past the killer dogs undetected.  On the way down the hill Teresa saw an old fence post that she said she wanted for the kitchen fireplace.  We were on a bus after no more than a minute wait.  We were at Carbón de Leña by 1:05pm.  I wanted to call Alan and let him know I was there but after we ordered lunch Teresa took the phone and made a call.  Twenty minutes later I told her she’s been on the phone for 20 minutes and I have to call Alan.  Ten minutes later she finished and informed me she was talking to her mother.  Did she call her mother in the States with my cell phone?  I called Alan and he told me he was on the other side of town.  I asked him to call me when he got back because we would probably be around for awhile.

I went to Bancolombia where I paid my January health insurance after a 20 minute wait.  On my return trip I recharged my cell phone with 50mil.  When I got back to the restaurant Laura was also there finishing her lunch.  Teresa walked over to Nohelia to get her nails done and I went to the park to play chess.

As usual I had to wait a bit for my chance to play.  I played an elderly man and he had white and again I overlooked something and gave him my rook.  In the 2^nd game I had white and played my opening, we both castled kingside, I locked up the middle and managed to stop his threats on the king side but he had a definite advantage on the queen side.  He managed to get his queen pawn to the 6^th rank but I managed to stop his many threats and we exchanged queens and rooks.  I took his passed pawn and got one of my own.  He offered to exchange bishops but I think he miscounted the moves his king would have to make to my pawn and a couple moves later he resigned.  

Now when we started playing we were in partial shade but by the last game we were both sitting in the sun.  He was facing it and I had it beating on my back.  After we finished he said he wanted to go get a tinto (small, strong, hot cup of coffee).  I think he may have invited me but I told him I didn’t want anything hot.

After watching another game finish I played the winner and didn’t have much difficulty beating him in 2 games.  Then I played the loser and again didn’t have any difficulty.  By then Teresa arrived – 2 to 2 ½ hours later so I declined any further games.  I’ve noticed my games seem to attract a crowd.  Teresa told me that after waiting so long she still hadn’t gotten her nails done.  

We walked a couple blocks to Encanto Frutal where Teresa had a fresh fruit salad and I had a slice of hot apple pie with strawberries, ice cream and whipped cream for 17,600.

We walked over to Exito where I picked up a box of dog biscuits and got in line while Teresa picked up the other things.  I don’t know why the cashiers here are so slow!  

We quickly found a taxi down to the highway and after a 5 minute wait were on a direct bus back to the finca.  There was only one seat available so Teresa got it for the first half of the trip and I got it for the second.

Walking up the hill in the near darkness we saw a fire on the hill on the other side of the highway.  There have been a lot of forest fires in Colombia recently, but this one being so close to houses, I hope it was controlled.  I reminded Teresa about the fencepost and she carried it up the hill.  We were surprised to find a new floodlight at the top of the hill where we leave the sideroad.  It gave us enough light so we could even see an additional 100 feet going down the hill.

At one point Teresa said something about the dogs.  I said “sh” and she motioned behind me and there was the black dog expecting a dog biscuit.  Sorry, but they’re in a plastic bag under the eggs so you’re going to have to wait until tomorrow.  Other than barking twice there was no other dog or barking or any aggressiveness.  I’ll be sure to reward him tomorrow with a dog biscuit.

We were back at the finca by 7pm.

Teresa talked to Albero and I understand he’s going to meet us at Carulla in El Tesoro tomorrow at 3:30 to return my money.

I took 2 sleeping pills at 10:30 and went to bed at 11pm.

T-shirt of the day: My team is better than yours.

Joke

Did you hear about the man who had a strange pain in his ankles?  He was too cheap to go to a doctor, so when a friend told him he had exactly the same pain, he said, “You’d better get to a doctor right away.  And tell me exactly what he says.”

“The next day, he learns his friend is dead.  He rushes to a hospital and has five thousand dollars worth of tests.  They can’t find anything wrong.  He calls his friend’s widow and says, “Was Chester in a lot of pain before he died?”

“No,’ she says.  “He didn’t even see the truck that hit him!”

Monday, December 28th, 2015

I fell asleep quickly and didn’t wake up until 6am when the dogs started barking because Chuchu arrived to continue trimming the garden.  I think Teresa told him to start at the bottom of the hill.

I finally woke/got up at 9:20am.

Teresa called Martha but I understand my visa isn’t ready.  She also called Natalia and found that we can make the medical insurance payment today or tomorrow but the amount has gone up to 115mil for 2016.  She called Vickie and made arrangements for Albero to return the money I loaned them tomorrow.

We gave Chuchu 30mil for his work today.

We made popcorn and watched Let Me In (7.2) and Case 39 (6.2) on Netflix.

Vickie called and Teresa asked me if I have a bank account here in Colombia.  I told her I only have bank accounts in the US.

I took 2 sleeping pills at 10:40 and went to bed at 11pm.

T-shirt of the day: Mondays suck.

Sunday, December 27th, 2015

I got up twice during the night, the alarm went off at 7am, Teresa, as usual, begged for a few more minutes sleep and we finally got up at 7:38.

We left the finca at 8:20 and got past the killer dogs undetected.  After a 5 minute wait we were on a bus to Caldas.  We walked through the park and stopped at Aymará for breakfast.  I had my usual, waffle with strawberries, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and a cup of coffee.  Teresa had a chicken pastry, cheese pastry, almojabana (corn bread?) and hot chocolate.  The total was 22,900 pesos (about $8).

We walked next door to the hardware store where we made the final payment of 56,500 for the exercise machine.

We found that neither of us had brought the cell phone so I guess that’s why we didn’t stop at the grocery store to buy some needed things.  Teresa told me tomorrow we’ll either go to pick up my Cedula in Belen or go to the grocery store in Envigado.

We walked several blocks to visit her girlfriend Mona but her house was locked up and she didn’t answer when Teresa called out for her.

We walked a couple more blocks to the bus stop where once again we walked up a couple floors where Teresa picked up the electric bill of 120,419. 

I bought a bottle of Coke for today’s game and we took a Fredonia bus back to the finca for 3mil.  

It was partly cloudy with a nice breeze and by taking our time I got up the hill without breaking a sweat.  The killer dogs came out and I gave the black dog my last dog biscuit; today the boxweiler lost out.

The red “x” that was over my internet icon yesterday is gone today.

I had the usual problem trying to get into Slingbox using Mozilla Firefox.  I tried Internet Explorer but had some problems there also.  I tried Google Chrome and got a very good connection.  I lost it just after the end of the 2^nd quarter and again just before halftime.  

The Chicago Bears were ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13-7 at halftime.  I missed all the Bears scores except the 1^st field goal.

I disconnected from the Slingbox at halftime and I’ll stir the tanks again before logging in again for the 2^nd half.

I couldn’t get a connection using any of my browsers so I finally switched to my iPad and, despite a couple of necessary reconnects, I saw the remainder of the game.  The Chicago Bears beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-21.

Readers Digest had a scary article titled “The Big One”.  Some excerpts: Most people in the United States know just one fault line by name: the San Andreas, which runs nearly the length of California.  Just north of the San Andreas … lies another fault line.  Known as the Cascadia subduction zone, it runs for 700 miles off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, beginning near Cape Mendocino, California, continuing along Oregon and Washington, and terminating around Vancouver Island, Canada. 

When the next very big earthquake hits, the northwest edge of the continent, from California to Canada and the continental shelf to the Cascades, will drop by as much as six feet and rebound 30 to 100 feet to the west.  Some of that shift will take place beneath the ocean, displacing a colossal quantity of seawater.  The water will surge upward into a huge hill, then promptly collapse.  One side will … rush east, in a 700 mile liquid wall that will reach the Northwest coast, on average, 15 minutes after the earthquake begins.  By the time the shaking has ceased and the tsunami has receded, the region will be unrecognizable.  Kenneth Murphy, who directs FEMA’s region X, says “Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast.”

In the Pacific Northwest, the area of impact will cover some 140,000 square miles, including Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Eugene, Salem, Olympia, and some seven million people.  When the next full-margin rupture happens, that region will suffer the worst natural disaster in the history of North America.  FEMA projects that nearly 13,000 will die in the Cascadia earthquake and tsunami.  Another 27,000 will be injured, and the agency expects it will need to provide shelter for a million displaced people and food and water for another 2.5 million.

…The odds of the Cascaid earthquake’s happening in the next 50 years are roughly one in three.  The odds of the very big one are roughly one in 10.

I took 2 sleeping pills at 11pm and went to bed at 11:30.

T-shirt of the day: What breaks your heart?

Saturday, December 26th, 2015

It took me a little while to fall asleep but I only got up once at 6:45, finally waking/getting up at 9am.

There is never anything for me on TV on Saturdays.

This is strange.  It appears I have my usual wifi/internet connection but the corresponding icon at the bottom of my screen shows a red “x” through it.  I don’t recall ever seeing that before.

Starting about 3:30 I found I no longer had an internet connection.

About 4pm Teresa told me it’s raining.  It wasn’t but it was dark outside so I brought in my towel which had had time to dry.

At 4pm I stirred the tanks and got my connection back.  Ten minutes later Teresa went to take a nap and 5 minutes later it started raining.

We watched Creep (6.2) and Honeymoon (5.6) and then started watching Seconds Apart (5.7).

I took 3 sleeping pills at 10:30 and went to bed at 11pm.

T-shirt of the day: You need tissues for your issues.

Friday, December 25th, 2015

Merry Christmas everyone!

I fell asleep quickly only getting up once at 5:30 finally waking/getting up at 9:30.

I made waffles this morning although we soon ran out of ice cream; they are a lot less dry with ice cream.

On the news they reported a number of people burned by fireworks last night.

I attempted, unsuccessfully, to download some classic Christmas movies like Christmas Story with Spanish subtitles so I have probably infected my computer again.

I started watching Blue Thunder (6.3). 

We took a nap from 2:20 to 3:30.

It started raining at 3:45 so I brought in the dog blankets while Teresa brought in the clothes from out back.

I spent some time uninstalling programs that were installed today on my computer.  I hope it’s clean again now.

I cleaned up most things but when I open the Mozilla Firefox browser it opens a new tab for “YesSearches.com”.  When I went to Internet Explorer and googled “What is YesSearches.com?” I found “The yessearches.com website claims to be a legitimate Internet search engine and may appear similar to other regular Internet search engines, however, be aware that it is promoted using deceptive software installers that modify Internet browser settings. Furthermore, yessearches.com continually monitors users' Internet browsing activity and displays search results that might lead to bogus websites.”

“The aforementioned installers usually modify the Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox default search engine, homepage, new tab URL browser settings and shortcuts by assigning them to yessearches.com. In addition, a number of applications and browser extensions are installed to prevent users from reverting these changes. All this is performed without users' consent. As a result, the Internet browsing experience is significantly diminished, since users are continually redirected to yessearch.com when they attempt to search the Internet, open new tabs, or simply open the browser. In addition, the search results displayed by this site are often irrelevant and might even redirect to infectious sites. Therefore, using yessearches.com might lead to high-risk adware or malware infections. Another downside of this site is information tracking. This browser hijacker collects software and hardware information relating to users' Internet browsing activity including Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (to determine geographic location), search queries, websites visited, pages viewed, and other similar data. This information might seem insignificant; however, it can include personally identifiable details that are later shared with third parties (who can misuse it to generate revenue). Thus, the presence of this browser hijacker on your system can lead to serious privacy issues. We strongly advise against the use of yessearches.com. Uninstall this browser hijacker immediately.”

For some reason Internet Explorer didn’t seem to be affected but I had to do some redirecting away from YesSearches.com to Google.com for Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.  It’s best to just be more careful when downloading to avoid these illegal “hitchhikers”.

We watched It Follows (6.9) on Netflix.

I took 2 sleeping pills at 11pm and we went to bed at 11:30.

T-shirt of the day: Let’s do something new today.

Thursday, December 24th, 2015

I got up 3 times during the night, the last time about 5:30 and was awakened at 7am by the alarm.  Teresa informed me she didn’t sleep well last night so we went back to sleep.

We woke up again about 9am and Teresa called Walter and asked him to pick up dog food and bring it to the finca.

Teresa left for the sideroad at 12:15 and 5 minutes later Walter called.  I told him Teresa is walking up the hill.  That was the extent of my Spanish.  He kept calling back and finally I answered again and asked if Teresa was with him.  He replied that no he is in Caldas.  While still talking to him I grabbed a couple dog biscuits and headed up the hill.  I was a little surprised that the terriers followed me.  As I was passing Guilermo’s house the path was unusually quiet (no dogs).  I looked back and saw Guillermo come out of his house followed by Teresa and the killer dogs.  The latter came right up to me and I gave each of them a dog biscuit with the terriers standing not a foot away.  Tony almost grabbed the second dog biscuit before the boxweiler got it.  Today I almost managed to pet the black dog but I did briefly pet the boxweiler.  Walking back down the hill the fenced dog started barking and the two teams of dogs got a little aggressive with each other.  Guillermo had given Teresa some kind of large plant cutting and we walked back to the finca.

I’ve decided to do TripAdvisor reviews for the hotels and restaurants we visit on my brother and company’s trip this coming January/February.  The others can help me rate the places for my reviews.

About 1pm Walter showed up with a large bag of dog food and I paid him 60mil for it and the delivery.  We opened it up and gave each dog some food.  Unfortunately both Tony and Peter were eating their share inside the finca.  Tony ate his food so rapidly that he was done and then he wanted Peter’s food.  A fight ensued, and soon they were both bleeding with blood on the floor and on the legs of a couple chairs.  That was repeated at least twice before we got them both out of the finca.  Peter ran up the hill and Tony was right by his side waiting for Peter to look at him.  We have to get Tony fixed soon and if that doesn’t lessen his aggressiveness I think we’ll have to give him away or have him put down.  A few minutes later I found Peter on the side of the finca with blood all over his fur mostly by his face.  His eyes and tongue looked undamaged and I cleaned him up a bit with a piece of toilet paper Teresa gave me.

Teresa talked to a cousin and then asked me if we could visit her in Cisneros this December 30^th.  I see by a map that Cisneros is 33 miles (as the crow flies) northeast of Medellin.  Teresa said all her aunts on her father’s side live there.  I reminded her I need to pay my health insurance but I don’t know if banks are open on January 1^st, the 2^nd is a Saturday (half day for banks), Sunday banks are closed, so we have to ask Natalia when she wants me to pay it.  On second thought I think Teresa wants to fix Tony first and then visit later in January.

I’m getting more insect bites today, maybe because Chucho cut the garden yesterday.

Teresa and I took a nap from about 4 to 5pm.

I finished reading a free Nook sample titled The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way, where author Bill Bryson states “The ways of dealing with matters of number, tense, case, gender, and the like are wondrously various from one tongue to the next.  A Welsh speaker must choose between five ways of saying than.  Finnish has fifteen case forms.  Imagine learning fifteen different ways of spelling cat, dog, house, and so on.  In English ride has just five forms (ride, rides, rode, riding, ridden); the same verb in German has sixteen.  In Russian, nouns can have up to twelve inflections and adjectives as many as sixteen."

"Sometimes languages fail to acquire what may seem to us quite basic terms.  The Romans had no word for gray.  Irish Gaelic possesses no equivalent of yes or no.  They must resort to roundabout expressions such as “I think not” and “This is so”.  Italians cannot distinguish between a niece and a granddaughter and a nephew and a grandson.  The Japanese have no definite or indefinite articles corresponding to the English a, an, or the, and they do not distinguish between singular and plural as we do with, say, ball/balls and child/children.  This may seem strange until you reflect that we don’t make a distinction with a lot of words – sheep, deer, trout, Swiss, scissors – and it scarcely every causes us trouble."

"But it is harder to make a case for the absence in Japanese of a future tense.  To them Tokyo e yukimasu means both “I go to Tokyo” and “I will go to Tokyo”.  To understand which sense is intended, you need to know the context.  This lack of explicitness is a feature of Japanese – even to the point that they seldom use personal pronouns like me, my, and yours.  Such words exist, but the Japanese employ them so sparingly that they might as well not have them.  Over half of all Japanese sentences have no subject.  They dislike giving a straightforward yes or no.  It is no wonder that they are so often called inscrutable.”

Bill Bryson also states  “…children in the first five years of life have such a remarkable facility for language that they can effortlessly learn two structurally different languages simultaneously – if, for instance, their mother is Chinese and their father American – without displaying the slightest signs of stress or confusion.”

I wanted to watch something different so I watched the 1934 German Nazi party film Triump des Willens (Triumph of the Will). 

When it got dark I went outside and moved the dog’s blankets onto the porch.  Luna started giving Peter a hard time – why, because he’s hurt? 

Then Peter started following Tony around like he’s taunting him.  At Teresa’s suggestion I put Peter in the shed out back by carrying him to it (I guess I didn’t touch any wounds) and then pretending to throw in a dog biscuit to get him to go inside.

The Colombian Peso has fallen to 3,173 to the dollar and has been there for awhile today so I’m guessing that’s the close for the holiday weekend.

Teresa mentioned us having dinner with Laura in Parque Lleras on December 31^st but the question came up as to where we would stay for the night.  She mentioned the hostal across the street from Triada but I told her that a standard room with private bathroom there is $60 per night.

Teresa and I watched Unknown (6.9) on Netflix, a good action film that she enjoyed.

I took 2 sleeping pills at 11:05 and we went to bed at 11:30.

T-shirt of the day: All you need is me.

Immigration appointment email - google translated into English

Mr. Citizen:To the attention of your procedure Safe Conduct grateful consider the following:

    Number of procedure: 386,538
    Date: 12/23/2015
    Time: 15:30
    Facilitator Center: Medellín Calle 19 # 80A-40 Quarter Bethlehem La Nubia
    Average Processing time: 60 minutesIt is the document issuing temporary migration abroad that Colombia requires it. Not to stay illegally in the country and to show the time of temporary stay authorized by Colombian immigration authority.The documents to be submitted to meet its requirement of CLP are:

    Paperwork fill Unique Format facilitators delivered free at CENTERS IMMIGRATION SERVICES or through the website, www.migracioncolombia.gov.co
    Passport, travel document or valid identity card. in accordance with international instruments signed by the country.
    Photocopy of the biographical data of the passport or travel document or identity.
    Two photos of 3 x 4 cm, when Colombia Migration requires.
    In support of the application: Entity Charter, judicial or administrative documents, ticket outlet, application letter.
    Payment of $ 49,000, which is available in facilitators MIGRANT SERVICES CENTRES, using debit and credit cards or the receipt issued by the bank at the time of the procedure, in all authorized payment.Note: The safe passage to refugees, deported, expelled, asylum, court order or for reasons of temporary or conditional release, at the request of administrative authority, where PIP or PTP is canceled, those issued by discretionary criterion for Migration Colombia is free .Remember: Introduce 15 minutes early. Any concerns about the process can consult the website: http://www.migracioncolombia.gov.co, or our Contact Center Citizen [57-1] 6055-454 - National Hotline 018 000 510 454.

MIGRATION COLOMBIAMINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS2015.

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2015

I fell asleep quickly and only got up once at 6am finally waking/getting up at 9:15.

Teresa talked to Martha and I understood today we have to stop at her office and then go to immigration.

A few minutes later I received an email cancellation for my 1pm appointment from immigation followed by another giving me a new appointment at 3:30.

I’ll post an English translation (gracias a Google Translate) of their email so you will know what I had to work with.

We left the finca at noon, I gave the killer dogs their dog biscuit and after a 5 minute wait were on a Rapido Ochoa bus to Aguacatala.  From there we took a taxi to Martha’s office across from Unicentro.  We picked up some documents and my passport (without a new visa) and then had lunch at a local sidewalk restaurant for 14mil (a little less than $5) a few doors away. 

We got to immigration by 2pm and after a short wait they started processing my papers.  They unfastened the two stapled sets of papers I had and gave me back one page.  In another area they took my picture again and electronic fingerprints.  I paid 49mil for my new visa.  They gave me some other documents back and my passport, still without a new visa inside.

We took another taxi to Martha’s office, they took my passport and documents and I paid the remaining 460,000 pesos of the total 1,260,000 pesos.  Martha gave Teresa about a dozen brochures with her business card she wants Laura to give to the gringos she meets in the restaurant.

We walked a block to the Unicentro mall where we found their food court for the first time.  We each had a fancy ice cream at a Crepes & Waffles (ice cream only) shop for 15,200.  (Our lunch cost more than that.)

We both decided to visit the restroom before leaving the mall.  Outside a long corridor was a music store with violins in the window and I told Teresa I would meet her there.  Of course I was out first and coming out I noticed there were two different corridors coming out of the restrooms.  When I looked down one of them I could see a restaurant at the end so I knew I was going the right way.  And there were the violins in the window I saw when I went in.  After waiting 10 minutes I went and sat back down at the food court keeping an eye on the exit.  I got 3 phone calls that I just ignored since I don’t speak Spanish.  Finally I walked to the women’s restroom with the intention of yelling into the entrance “Teresa, where are you?” but there she was.  She gave me a hard time for not answering my phone (she borrowed a phone from a cleaning lady) and I gave her a hard time for not meeting me where we agreed.

We stopped in Exito where we picked up tomatoes, lettuce, and caramel syrup for waffles but I forgot to buy a Coke for my weekly Bears game.

Outside, after about a 5 minute wait we got a taxi to the highway.  On the way we passed the new river park area being built and I saw where the highway tunnel goes underneath it.  At the Poblado station Teresa told me we would probably have trouble getting a bus because so many people are heading to the fincas for the holidays but we were on a Tratam bus (with seats) after only a 5 minute wait.

Walking up the sideroad Teresa called Guillermo for some reason.  There was a nice full moon lighting our way.  Coming down the path the killer dogs came out and I gave each of them a dog biscuit.

We got back to the finca at 7pm.

I understood tomorrow we’re going to Caldas, have breakfast at Aymará, buy some much needed dog food and a couple other things at a grocery store.  With that in mind I set the alarm clock (on my cell phone) to 7am.

I took 2 sleeping pills at 10:45 and we went to bed at 11:15pm.

T-shirt of the day: Feeling fierce.

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2015

I fell asleep quickly only getting up once about 5:30.  Barking dogs kept me awake about another hour, finally waking/getting up at 9:10.

We left the finca at 12:50pm.  The killer dogs came out as we were going up the hill.  I gave each of them a dog biscuit but I’m running low on them.  We only had to wait a minute for a bus to Envigado.

We had the taxi stop at grandma’s so Teresa could drop off some clothes for Laura.  When we first got to Carbón de Leña all the tables were taken but we found Vicky’s daughter Laura there with a couple other ladies.  After we had the lunch of the day Teresa waited at the restaurant to have lunch with Laura and I went to the park to play chess.  First I stopped at Gana and added 50mil to my cell phone.

There are so many pigeons in the park there’s a real danger of getting pooped on.  I saw it happen to one man there – it hit him on his sleeve.  They have a large water fountain which is a perfect watering hole for the pigeons.  After waiting about 30 minutes I finally got to play the young man I had played before.  He won the first game with white, I won the 2^nd game with white, and he won the 3^rd game with white.  

Laura and Teresa arrived and I said hello and soon goodbye to her.  A few minutes later Teresa and I were on a bus to Santafe CC.  Teresa told me that Laura is very happy because she got tips from gringos of 40mil, 50mil, and 90mil.  

The mall was very busy and after waiting for Teresa in Forever 21 somehow she exchanged her blouse for some slacks without waiting in the long line I saw.

We stopped at Mezzalena Salad Bar where we each had a Coke and enjoyed sitting for a change.  I told her the crowds are worse in the States at Christmas time.  Teresa talked to Martha and I understand we will call her tomorrow to find out the status of my visa.

I finished reading the free Popular Mechanics on my Nook and found this good advice: “Wireless routers connect computers and an ever-growing list of vital home devices to the Internet and to each other, so when their signals get patchy it’s a nightmare.  …quick improvement… plug the router into a cheap electric timer set to briefly turn it off – effectively resetting it – every night while the house sleeps.”  Since Laura isn’t sleeping here anymore I’m the only one using the wifi so I’ll just turn it off at night and turn it back on in the morning.  I hope this helps me see my game next Sunday.

We had a slow bus ride back to Envigado, stopped at Gana and added 10mil to Laura’s cellphone, made a restroom stop at Exito for 600 pesos, and after a 10 minute wait were on a taxi down to the highway.

We tried unsuccessfully to get on a Tratam bus but soon decided to take a Fredonia even though we knew it would be stopping in Caldas.  The bus was full and we had to stand the whole way.  In Caldas a lady got on to collect fares and she asked people standing in the aisles to temporarily leave the bus.  We got off and Teresa walked a couple buildings down and up a couple floors and knocked on a door.  I guess she wanted the city tax bill but I guess they didn’t have it.  We managed to get back to the bus before it left.  When we got off at the sideroad there was a near full moon partially obscured by clouds.  Just barely enough light that we could see out way.  We got past Guillermo’s house undetected but further down the trail I heard the killer dogs come out and bark at us.  Too late for them.

We got back to the finca at 7:30.

I received an email from Colombia immigration that I have a 1pm appointment tomorrow to renew my visa.  I think that’s just routine – they don’t know I’m already in the process of renewing it through Martha.

I had some eye discomfort so I took an Excedrin with my evening Tamsulosin.

I took 3 sleeping pills at 10:30 and went to bed at 11pm.

T-shirt of the day: “I really need new clothes.”  Me every morning.

Monday, December 21st, 2015

It took a little while to fall asleep, I got up at 3:45, again at 6:30, finally waking/getting up at 9am.

Teresa called Martha’s office and then told me we have an appointment in her office tomorrow at 11am and then we go to Immigration to get my new Cedula.  Martha called back a few minutes later and informed Teresa that the appointment was for someone else so I don’t know what’s happening.

We left the finca at 1:05 and the killer dogs came out to greet us as we walked past Guillermo’s.  The black dog seemed to chase one of the other dogs away.  I gave each of them a dog biscuit and the black dog followed us up the hill.  Someone had dumped some garbage (broken tiles, rocks, and dirt) on the sideroad.  I don’t think that’s going to make it easier for cars to get through.  We were on a bus after a 5 minute wait.  The north side of the bridge appears to be finished (meaning connected to the highway) and no one was working on or near it.

The bus had air conditioning, Teresa got the last real seat, and I sat on a jump seat that folded down near the front door.

We were in El Tesoro 50 minutes early so once again we stopped at J&C Delicias for lunch.  The dentist’s office called and told us we could come a little early and Teresa told them we will probably be a little late.  I had the fettucine Alfredo with chicken but there was so much chicken I couldn’t finish it all.  Teresa had the Peru surf & turf arepa and we each had a mango juice (actually Teresa had 2) for 54,300 (about $18) including tax and tip.  The restaurant had a TV and of course the big news was Miss Colombia losing her Miss Universe title.  Teresa informed me that Miss Colombia was a happy Miss Universe for 4 minutes and 20 seconds.  Teresa talked to Laura and to answer my question I learned that she even has to work on Christmas day.

We waited about 45 minutes for Teresa’s turn at the dentist.  After about 20 minutes she was done.  We have another appointment for next Wednesday the 30^th at 2pm.

We stopped in Carulla where we picked up hot dogs, hot dog buns, arepas, a loaf of bread, rice and a couple other things for about 54mil.

We had to wait about 15 minutes for a taxi to the Poblado station and another 10 minutes for an express bus.

When we got off the bus there was a nice ¾ moon fairly high in the sky.  That was good because it would soon be dark.  Coming up the top of the hill we could see the black dog waiting for us.  After we got through the fence I gave it a dog biscuit.  The German shepherd heard us and made a commotion and the boxweiler came out and I gave it one.  When the other dogs start to bark and give us a hard time then the black dog and boxweiler tend to join in.

We got back to the finca by 6:30.

At 10pm we watched Episode 10, Season 2 of Fargo.

I took 2 sleeping pills at 10:30 and we went to bed at 11pm.

T-shirt of the day: I lost my temper but it came back suddenly.

Sunday, December 20th, 2015

I fell asleep quickly only getting up once at 6:30am.   That in itself is a good night’s sleep.  I fell asleep again finally waking at 9am and getting up at 9:30.

Teresa showed me a red headed woodpecker out back behind the finca.  It looks more like Woody the Woodpecker than those we have in the States because of its red crown in back.

Well, my Bears game isn’t on Direct TV today so I hope to see it on my Slingbox and I hope the weather stays dry long enough to see the game.  Actually, the rainy season shouldn’t start again until May when it’s almost as wet as October.

Just before 1pm (eastern time) in Mozilla Firefox when I tried going into Slingbox I got the message “A new SlingPlayer Web Plug-in is available”.  There are 2 options: “I DO NOT ACCEPT” and “I ACCEPT”.  When I click on the first option it just brings me back to the same message.  When I click on the second option I get a message “Firefox prevented this site from asking you to install software on your computer.”  If I select “Allow” I receive the message:  “The add-on downloaded from this site could not be installed because it appears to be corrupt.”

I tried Internet Explorer but never got past “loading”.

I had more luck with Slingplayer on my iPad.  At least I was able to get a connection.

Watching the first half was hit or miss, more miss than hit.  The 2^nd half was better, meaning I was able to see more of the game.

At 2:15, just before halftime it started raining but it only lasted about 10 minutes.

At halftime it was Vikings 17 Chicago Bears 7.

In the 2^nd half again I had trouble getting a connection.  Finally I “stirred the tanks” meaning I disconnected and reconnected the router and it started working again.  After that my connection problems were minimal.

The final was Minnesota Vikings 38 Chicago Bears 17.

At 4pm it started raining but only lasted for about 20 minutes.

Wow, Miss Colombia won the Miss Universe pageant – that’s two years in a row.  What? Are you kidding me?  The emcee made a mistake and Miss Philippines is Miss Universe.  Wow!  At least here on Direct TV they showed a continous loop of them taking the crown from Miss Colombia and putting it on Miss Philippines – I counted 15 times in succession.

I finished watching Blade Runner: The Final Cut (8.2). 

I took 2 sleeping pills at 10:45 and we went to bed at 11:15.

T-shirt of the day: Keep calm and kill zombies.

Saturday, December 19th, 2015

Again it took me quite a while to fall asleep.  I got up once during the night finally getting up at 10am.

The kitchen guys arrived at 10:45.  They cut trim with a DeWalt miter saw and they also had an electric planer.

I finished reading my special edition of National Geographic – History.  This same edition that was about $25 in the bookstore I got for free after buying my new Nook.  It had interesting articles: Parthenon – the Glory of Athens, American’s Railroads – The Race to Unify a Nation, Vikings in the New World – 500 years before Columbus, Europe’s Black Death – 75 million lost, and How Britain Abolished Slavery.

Because the muchachos arrived a little late we may be getting Peluche to the vet another day.

The kitchen was finished by 1:30 and the guys left with their tools.  Next month we’ll go to Caldas to buy the range top and after that is installed the kitchen should be complete.

Teresa walked Chocho up the hill and of course the terriers followed her and I heard another battle among the dogs.  When I went out to get my towel from the line out back I saw the old metal sink sitting a ways up the hill.  Maybe Teresa’s giving it to Chocho to exchange for cash.

We took a nap from 3 to 4pm.  At least I got up at 4, Teresa got up at 5:10.

I started watching Basic Instinct (6.9) but it dragged and I finally figured out it was Basic Instinct 2 (4.2).  I gave up on it.  I was wondering what happened to Michael Douglas.

From my hard drive I skipped the Batman collection, Being Flynn, Bernie, Big, and started watching Black Swan (8.0).  I couldn’t get into it so I switched to Blade Runner (8.2) but it was in French so I switched to Blade Runner: The Final Cut (8.2).  

I took 2 sleeping pills at 10:30 and went to bed at 11pm.  Teresa was watching some show so she came to bed later.

Friday, December 18th, 2015

I fell asleep quickly, getting up once at 3am, again about 6:30, finally waking/getting up at 9am.

Among new US movie releases I want to see, and will see today, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (8.9).  I can’t imagine any other movie seriously trying to compete with this force (pun intended).

We left the finca at 12:15 just as it started raining so we each brought an umbrella.  We got past the killer dogs undetected and were on a bus after a 10 minute wait.  Shortly thereafter the rain stopped.  A man got on the bus selling purses.  They appeared hand made and were a little smaller than my Tech bag.  After that man got off another got on selling something which I understood was for your health.  I took one and I understood from the cover it’s a basic extract of Cocaine and Marajuana plus a few other ingredients.  It felt like there was a small can in the bag.  The young lady sitting next to me bought one and opened a can about the size of shoe polish and the inside looked about the same consistency.  She smelled it a few times and closed it up.  A couple minutes later she took a few more sniffs.  Then she took some out with her finger and wiped it on her forehead above her eyebrows.  Teresa got us off the bus just short of the Poblado metro station with the hope it would be easier to catch a taxi.  Luckily it wasn't raining and we were on a taxi after a 2 minute wait.  We got to the mall at 1:30.  We wanted to eat at Frisby but the line was too long so we had the chicken teriyaki at Sarku’s.  

At the theater 10 minutes before show time we took escalators up to the 4^th floor and it was obviously Premier Seating that reminded me of Muvico in Rosemont, Illinois.  They had a menu that besides the usual popcorn and soda included ribs, fish, etc.  I bought a medium popcorn for 11mil and a large Coke for 6,900 pesos (about $6 total).  In the theater there was plush seating that reclined with a movable TV tray attached and lots of legroom.  Someone could easily walk past without coming near you.  There was only one other couple in the theater.  It was in 3D but there didn’t appear to be any cheap exploitation of it.  I would give Star Wars: The Force Awakens 4 ½ stars out of 5 because for me the ending was too similar to another Star Wars episode.

While I made a trip to the restroom Teresa went into Bon Bonite.  I guess she really wanted it because she put 50mil down on a fancy 316,900 purse with the balance due next month.  She told me she can buy anything in the mall with her Cedula and pay for it later.  I told her she’s dangerous.

We stopped in Carulla where once again the only salsa they had was mild.  We picked up some groundbeef, hamburger buns, and a Pepsi for my Sunday game.  Teresa stopped at the pharmacy where she bought some face cream that she’s bought before.

We took a taxi down to the highway and were on a bus back to the finca after a 5 minute wait.  It took 50 minutes to return because of slow heavy traffic.  It was misting a bit as we got off the bus.  We used our umbrellas and I didn’t even turn my flashlight off and we got past the killer dogs undetected.

We got back just in time (7:25) to see the new Miss Colombia crowned.  Keep in mind this is now about 2 hours after we bought the meat.  I always remind her to put it in the refrigerator right away.

Teresa’s friend Ana Maria keeps calling but Teresa doesn’t want to answer because Ana wants to borrow 2 million pesos for her hat business.  She's afraid Ana wouldn't be able to pay it back.  I told her that’s not to worry because I don’t have 2,000,000 pesos.

Teresa talked to James and I understand he’s coming early tomorrow to finish the kitchen.  I just hope we’re not sitting here all day waiting for him.

Teresa talked to Walter and I understand now we’re taking Peluche to a clinic in Caldas tomorrow afternoon because it’s cheaper.

I watched Jobs (5.9) starring Ashton Kutcher from 10pm to midnight.  Teresa informed me that we've already seen it together.  I didn't care, I stayed up to watch it and she went to bed about 11pm.

I took 2 sleeping pills at 11:45 and went to bed at midnight.

T-shirt of the day: Never stop, always be positive.