Thursday, May 4, 2017

I felt I slept well despite getting up 2-3 times during the night.

It was a nice sunny morning.

After breakfast and 20 minutes of the Today show I left the apt. 

I walked to Todo Drogas where I bought my medications for the month.  For a change I paid for them with my debit card.  I should remember to do that all the time.

I walked a block away where I immediately was on an Envigado bus to the Poblado area of Medellin.  I tried turning on my Nook but the start button didn’t seem to work.  Maybe the battery was too low?

I got off the bus at the Santafe mall, crossed the street and walked down a block to Oviedo mall.  I stopped in at Cava de Queso and was surprised to see they were completely restocked with bagels.  I bought 2 bags of sesame bagels for 15,800 (about $5.50).  I went downstairs and walked around Carulla but all I found was a 1.5liter Finlandek glass pitcher.  Not bad but I’d like something closer to 2 liters.

In Santafe mall I tried withdrawing 800,000 pesos from a Bancolombia ATM.  I got no cash but the usual “If you have any questions talk to your bank” response.

I went up one level to the first floor (go figure) and into Falabella.  I took their escalator up 2 more floors before finding their housewares section.  They had a lot of decorative glassware but not what I was looking for.

When I walked out of Falabella I saw a row of Bancolombia ATMs.  I tried one of them and this time I just asked for 400,000 pesos and it gave me my requested cash.  Surprise, surprise!  Hmmm, that got me to thinking.

I walked to the other side of the mall and down to the 2^nd floor where I saw the iShop had moved next to Cachivaches.  In the latter I walked around and they had A LOT of drinking glasses but no glass pitchers or measuring cups.  Very disappointing!

I walked to the other side of the mall and down another level to Starbucks.  I ordered a small vanilla latte and, as usual, the young server asked for my name.  I told him “Terry” and after he wrote something on the cup I asked to see it.  Surprisingly, he appeared to have written it correctly - in script even.  It cost me 7,700 pesos – about $2.50.  When I picked up my order the young lady working there had written in English under my name “You’re awesome!”  I said “Awwww” and smiled and she smiled back.  While drinking my latte I fiddled with my Nook but still couldn’t get it to work.  At one point over the PA system I heard in English “…vehicles from the parking lot.”  Interesting!  After I finished my drink and was leaving the young lady waved goodbye.  Everyone is so friendly here!

I walked back downstairs and at the same ATM machine that didn’t work for me before I withdrew another 400,000 pesos.  Well, that confirmed my suspicion!  Now I have to try that on my local Bancolombia ATM.  Maybe I’m just asking for too much cash.  The nice thing about using Bancolombia ATMs is that they don’t add any extra ATM fees.

Across the street I only had to wait 5 minutes for a bus back to the apt.  I was back by 11:45am.

By the time I had finished lunch the weather had changed.  It became overcast with some misting and I even heard some thunder.  Soon it had cleared although the temperature had already fallen a bit.

I ordered a 2-cup measuring cup and ½ gallon refrigerator pitcher – both glass - from Amazon for $33.35.  They are scheduled to arrive in Miami by May 10^th so there will be about a 2 week delay before I can continue with making iced tea.

I’m noticing more policemen in the neighborhood on bicycles.

At 5:15 in the afternoon I did another speed test using Speedtest.net and received 3.71 Mbps download and 2.16 Mbps upload.  That’s still not acceptable, especially if I’m paying for 10Megs.

I recharged the battery on my Nook and now it works fine.

Teresa informed me that, as far as I can figure out, her mother left the keys to her apt in the door on the inside and Teresa is going to have Wilson use a broom to reach over the transom of the door.  That’s about all I’ve figured out.

I did a couple more lessons in Rosetta Stone and I think I spent more than an hour practicing on Chess Magnet School.  With promotions getting more difficult to obtain I think it’s time to concentrate on spending an hour each day instead of going by promotions.

I got involved into watching a World War II series on History Channel.  I stayed up until midnight to watch a new episode of El Socio (The Profit) on History Channel.

T-shirt of the day: Another fine day ruined by responsibility.