Saturday, May 6, 2017

I slept well last night despite getting up 3 times during the night.  

Sometime during the night it stopped raining and I woke up feeling too warm with both a sheet and a blanket.  I removed the blanket and got up and opened the window.  We finally woke/got up at 8am.

It was an overcast morning.

Again, Teresa cancelled going to Mayorista for groceries this morning.  She said we’ll go very early tomorrow or on Monday.

I left the apt at 8:30 to buy the Q’hubo newspaper for Chuck.  I first stopped at Bancolombia and, what do you know, I was able to withdraw 400,000 pesos using my debit card.  Why couldn’t it have told me before that I was asking for too much cash?  Why couldn’t I have figured that out on my own?  Anyway, I’m very happy I won’t have to rely on Citibank all the time and I’ll also save about $5 on each withdrawal – even though USAA returns $25 of that to me at the end of each month.

I left the apt again at 9:30 and had to wait 10 minutes for an Envigado bus.  I did see 2 Rosellon buses arrive but they take the Avenida Las Vegas route to Poblado and I need the Avenida Poblado route.  (I’ll have to remember those buses the next time I want to go to Monterrey mall.)

On my way I realized I forgot my Cedula.  The ladies that I usually see at MBE don’t work on Saturday and I didn’t know if the guys I usually see would give me my mail.

At MBE one of the ladies I usually see was there and she gave me my letter.  (It turned out to be an Annual Funding Notice for my pension.)  I asked her if Victoria or Nobraska was there and the latter came up to talk to me.  I explained my problem with the iPhone 5 being held up in Miami.  She explained that the Colombian government doesn’t allow cell phones to be sent through the mail.  Bummer!  I asked, and she agreed, that it will be returned to the sender.

I walked up to Santafe mall and went into the iStore where I found the 16GB iPhone SE selling for 1,698,999 (about $575) or monthly payments of 70,796 (about $24) for 24 months.

I stopped in Falabella and found it very busy – probably because tomorrow is Mother’s Day here.  I saw some Samsung Galaxy phones on sale but if I understood the fine print the sales ended yesterday at 10pm or today at 2pm.  Some of the older models appeared to be in the $200 price range.

I made a quick trip downstairs to the Jumbo grocery store to see if they had some ½ gallon or gallon sized containers of juice.  I did find both but they are plastic and I don’t think that will be as good as glass for storing iced tea.

I caught a bus back to Envigado and walked a block to a corner vendor who sold me a ripe avocado for 4,000 pesos for lunch.

Back at the apt there was a note on the 1^st floor bulletin board.  We are going to be without water next Wednesday from 9am to 2pm.  I guess I’ll be able to use my new soap container as I’ll probably take a shower at the gym after my workout.

I did a speed test and got 2.89Mbps download and 1.87Mbps upload.

At 1:15 it started raining lightly.

I watched Episode 8 of The Living Dead on Netflix which completed Season 6.  (Of course it ended with them being in trouble again!)

Teresa, MT, and I left the apt at 4pm with the intention of finding a TV table.  (I reread the bulletin board notice and its electricity not water we’re going to be without.)  We stopped at the same antique store where we bought the living room couch and table.  I walked into the first room and was gob-smacked when I saw a chess table.  It was in good shape, sturdy, with 2” squares, 4” borders on the sides but without any drawers for storage.  The asking price was 280,000 pesos so later I sent an email to Jose because I knew he was looking for one.  We found a suitable TV table – a little shorter and wider than our existing table priced at 370,000.  The TV will go on top and there is an open shelf underneath with a large hole in back for the wiring for the TV box and router.  Under that are 2 drawers where I can store my Super Nintendo and game cartridges.  We also found a shelf where I can store my chess books above my chess table for 170,000 but she lowered the price to 150,000.

We did walk a block away to another shop but they didn’t have anything better.

I’m not sure when it’s going to be delivered but we’ll pay in cash on delivery like last time.

Teresa was hungry and the owner of the shop pointed kiddy-corner across the street to a pizzeria that she said was very good.  After Teresa discussed other local restaurants with her we walked across the street to Pizza Gourmet at Calle 38Sur #34-54.  We each ordered an individual pizza and a Te Hatsu.  The ladies ordered their pizza with chicken and mushrooms.  I ordered a vegetarian pizza minus a couple ingredients I didn’t recognize.  I wrote one of them down – aceitunas – which sounded like “aceite” which means “oil” and “tuna” which sounds like, well, “tuna”.  (Back at the apt I looked it up and “aceitunas” means “olives” so I’m kind of glad I skipped that one.)  The pizzas soon arrived – they had a very crispy crust and were in the shape of a large slice.   The ladies loved their pizza (best she’s had Teresa said) so much that Teresa ordered another one that we shared.  We ordered another one (chicken w/ mushrooms) to take back to Laura.  I joked with them about making a reservation to have lunch here tomorrow for Mother’s Day.  The total bill came to something like 58,000 pesos or about $20.

We easily caught a taxi back to the apt.

Teresa informed me that the table and shelf should be delivered tomorrow at 8am.  That might nix our trip to Mayorista tomorrow morning.  I thought we should have gone this morning.

I practiced for an hour on Chess Magnet School.

I completed a few Rosetta Stone Spanish lessons.

T-shirt of the day: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES.  They’re not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.