Thursday, June 15, 2017

Besides getting up a few times during the night I woke/got up at 7am.

It’s a very overcast morning and we obviously had some rain overnight.

I’d told Laura I would help her pay her college tuition.  I understand its 6 million pesos (about $2000) a semester to go to CES and she would pay half from the finca rental and I would pay the other half.

Laura and I left at 8:20 for Bancolombia.  First we made a side detour to a paper store that I didn’t know was there.  She logged onto the internet and printed out 2 copies of her student bill.  I understood they were using a laser printer – a detail that will be important later.  At the bank we only had to wait about 5 minutes for a cashier.  I was embarrassed to find I had forgotten the cash.  I hustled back to the apt and emptied my tech bag of my Nook and umbrella and filled it with the cash.  Back at the bank I gave the cashier 6,144,000 pesos and then we found that her scanner wouldn’t pick up the barcode on the student bill so Laura had to go back to the paper store for another copy using a different printer.  In the meantime I paid the Caldas tax bill.  We got our receipt and headed back to the apt.

I don’t have an extra hanging file to keep the university receipts so I’m going to have to buy another set of files.

I was about 15 minutes late for the start of the Today show but I watched the next 30 minutes.  I left the apt and quickly caught a bus downtown.  Traffic was a little slow but I exited right across the street from MBE.

I received my box of prostate vitamins plus the extra bottle of CoQ10 which is supposed to be good for heart health.  If it’s good for one muscle it should be good for the others too, right?  For some reason I had to pay another 9,600 pesos for my package.  (The 2 bottles of Mega Men Prostate & Virility cost me $43.18 and the single 100mg bottle of CoQ10 cost me another $27.99.)

Outside I had time to walk down to the next bus stop where I was quickly on an Envigado bus.  As I got on a couple gringas crossed the street in front of the bus.  The traffic was so heavy that we didn’t make much better time than the girls did walking.  I got off at Citibank where I made probably my last withdrawal for the month.

I walked a block further down to Office Depot where I saw the girls sitting on the steps sharing a snack.  Inside I bought another set of 5 hanging file folders for 6,900 pesos.  The cashier asked me something in Spanish and I told her I don’t speak good Spanish.  She switched to near perfect English and she confirmed my suspicion that she was asking me if I was a member of Office Depot’s “club”.

The ladies were still sitting there so I said “hello” and one of them just said “buenas”.

I walked up to Oviedo where I checked on the bagels in Cueva de Quesos.  One package had an expiration date of 6 days from now and another expired yesterday.  If I bought the first package I would have to eat one every night and that’s not going to happen.  (I wanted to check Carulla for a soft toothbrush but I forgot until later.)

I got on a Sabaneta bus back to Envigado and as I walked to the back for a seat across from the rear exit I saw a man whose nose was missing – he looked like something out of Star Wars.

As I was getting off the bus in Envigado they had a tree on the back of a flatbed truck but I wasn’t sure if it was coming or going.

I see tonight the 16-year old American phenom Samuel Sevian, with 5 ½ points out of 7, plays White on board 6 against a GM from Chile named Rodrigo Vasquez Schroeder.

From about 2:15 to 2:45 Teresa and I both tried unsuccessfully to take a nap.  I think we both heard something that awakened or startled us.

I left the apt at 3:15 with my small umbrella and had wait 10 minutes for a bus.  I felt a little mist walking to the metro.  When I got off at Estacion Estadio I walked 2 ½ blocks to Hotel Dorado in the rain with my small umbrella.  I asked at the front desk and they called an English speaker who informed me that the tournament was on the 2^nd floor.  At the top of the stairs I was greeted by a young lady who gave me a small piece of paper advertizing that GM Lázaro Bruzón will present the book of his 40 most memorable games tomorrow at 11am.  Since I was 45 minutes early I was able to walk right into the playing room.  They had 98 boards (tables) set up for 196 players with the top 20 boards having nice wood chess sets and the others plastic.  Everyone had a name plate with their title next to their board and I could see where Samuel would be playing – at the head table if there is such a thing.  Outside in a smaller room they had about 20 other boards and I could see there would be an 1898 rated American playing at one of them.  At this point there were no players in the rooms so I headed downstairs and sat in the hotel’s dining room for a few minutes.  At 10 minutes to 4pm I headed back upstairs and stood by the door as players filed in.  I saw a young man a little shorter than myself walk by with glasses and a hoodie and he sat down at the White side of board 6 so that was Samuel.

It was easier to watch the games from my laptop than from outside the room so I just retraced my steps.  Back in Envigado I bought a kilo of strawberries from the guy at the station.

Back at the apt Teresa was out getting another medical massage.

At 6pm Laura came to borrow my cell phone to call Direct TV because our programming went out.

Teresa returned about 6:30.

Wow, Samuel’s opponent resigned on his 27^th move as he was close to being mated.  Samuel now has 6 ½ points out of 8 and ended the evening tied for 2^nd with 7 others.

Laura called Teresa from MT’s apartment and informed us that I didn’t pay the Direct TV bill for May.  They restored our service for tonight but I have to remember to pay the bill tomorrow.

T-shirt of the day: If a man speaks in the forest, and there’s no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?