Sunday, April 29, 2018

I slept pretty well despite getting up several times during the night.

Well, instead of going to Mayorista Teresa wants to take her mother to see Pricesmart.  We left about 10am, picked up MT at her apartment and arrived at Pricesmart for a 12mil taxi fare.

As soon as I got there I realized I had forgotten to bring my debit card.  I only had about 150,000 pesos on me but Teresa had another 210,000.  We picked up a few things (I got another package of a dozen English muffins) and then stopped in their cafeteria where we had chicken wings for an early lunch.

At the checkout we had to exclude a couple things due to our lack of funds.  I was surprised that the lines weren’t very long.  Not sure if it’s like this every Sunday or if it’s because Tuesday is a holiday – May Day.  Maybe we just got lucky!

We pushed our cart downstairs where there was a line of taxis waiting.  It cost 13,000 pesos for the ride back.

At 2pm it started raining but it stopped about 30 minutes later.

The Colombian Peso closed for the weekend at 2,806 to the US Dollar.

I talked to an old gringo from the US who has been communicating with a young Colombiana here in Envigado.  I think I gave him some good advice.

I just got a message on my laptop “consider replacing your battery”.  Uh-oh!

I solved more puzzles on Chess Magnet School and was promoted to Commander.

Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before but to get some cardio I’ve started using a jump rope.  When I started out a week or so ago I could only go for 7 seconds before exhaustion or tripping over the rope.  Now I am up to about 55 seconds.

T-shirt of the day: I don’t believe you woke up like that.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

I slept pretty well despite getting up several times during the night.

We got some rain overnight and we have a leak coming from the ceiling next to the bedroom window.

Rounds 4-7 of the NFL draft start at 11am today but I was unable to log into my Slingbox; something about incorrect userid or password.  I checked with my son and he gave me the 6-character password and I could see that the filled-in password was longer than that.

Today the Chicago Bears added the following picks:

·       4^th round (#115) – ILB Joel Lyiegbuniwe, Western Kentucky.

·       5^th round (#145) – DT Bilal Nichols, Delaware.

·       6^th round (#181) – OLB Kylie Fitts, Utah.

·       7^th round (#224) – WR Javon Wimms, Georgia.

I accidentally found that they are having a Westworld marathon on Direct TV today - all episodes of season 1 and the first episode of season 2.  Previously I had only seen the last half of episode 1, episode 2, and episodes 8-10.  Today I missed most of the 1^st episode again but I caught all of 2-10 which made it a lot more sense now.

After visiting the finca Teresa went to see her mother then came back at 5:30 and asked me if I wanted to go looking at antiques and after for pizza.  After some discussion she went with her mother to look at antiques and I planned to meet them at Antica Pizza at 7:30.

Teresa called me later and reminded me to bring an umbrella.  At 7pm I looked out and saw that it was raining so I brought the large umbrella with the 2 small umbrellas in my tech bag.  As soon as I got downstairs I found the rain had changed to just a mist.  When I got to Antica Pizza and was waiting for Teresa and MT I met a couple of gringos from El Poblado that were waiting to pick up a pizza.  One was from Iowa and is teaching 3^rd grade in a private school here.  I learned that he teaches all his subjects in English.  Similarly, the other gringo is from Alaska but he is teaching 8^th grade.  All of his students will receive a Colombian and American high school diploma.  Interesting!  They are both here on 2-year work visas.

They have another gringo friend that just got out of the hospital.  They said he was riding his bicycle down one of the mountain roads and misjudged his speed and ended up in the wrong lane and got run over by a car.  Yikes!

Teresa told me that the guy likes the finca but he needs to find a fiador (co-signer) in order to rent it.

Tomorrow Teresa wants to go to Mayorista to buy fruits and vegetables.  I warned her I only have about 650mil left on my debit card.

T-shirt of the day: Addicted to crazy, sarcastic love.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Wow!  I didn’t wake up until 6:45, finally getting up at 7:15.  Was it because of the little exercise I got yesterday?  Was it the Coke and popcorn I had last night?  Lol.

I completed all of my gym exercises today in 2 hours and 10 minutes.  Why so long?  Maybe because I told Jose 2 jokes instead of 1.  Jose told me he saw Avengers but hated it despite IMDB giving it a rating of 9.2.  Wow.

Remember I had a problem with my hamstrings back in mid March?  I was lifting 80# at the time.  I shut the leg curl down for a week and then started lifting only 50#.  The first couple days I felt my hamstrings but it wasn’t really painful.  After about a month I’ve now moved the weight up to 65# and again I feel it but no pain so we’ll see what happens from here.

Teresa informed me she might have someone to rent the finca.  She’s going to show it to them tomorrow.

Among new US movie releases, there isn’t anything I want to see.  Among local movie showtimes, there isn’t anything I want to see.

I left the apt at 2:30 and took the Envigado bus to Envios Market.  They gave me an envelope which was just one of those pension obligations.  While there I paid 39mil for next month’s rental.  On the way back I stopped at Starbucks for a mocca latte blanco but I think they forgot to include the milk as it was very strong.  I caught a bus at Oviedo mall and after a few minutes I even got a seat.  About 5 blocks from the apt the bus took a detour in heavy traffic so I got off and walked the last few blocks.

Rounds 2-3 of the NFL draft start at 6pm tonight.  The Bears have the 7^th pick in the 2^nd round but none in the 3^rd unless they trade up.  Anyway, I’ll be watching.

In the 2^nd round - pick #39 - the Bears chose center James Daniels from Iowa.

Then the Bears traded one of their 4^th round picks - #105 - and next year’s 2^nd round pick to the New England Patriots to move up to the 51^st pick in the 2^nd round where they chose wide receiver Anthony Miller from Memphis.  Since they don’t have a 3^rd round pick I’m pretty sure the Bears are done for tonight.

T-shirt of the day: I beat anorexia.

Thursday, April 26, 2018 – 2 of 2

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show, dressed in jeans and a dark t-shirt, and took the metro to Monterrey mall.  I found a store called Quantica on the 2^nd level where I bought a set of Gamenote HV-H2237U headphones for 135,200 pesos ($50.46).  I had some fun kidding around with the young man and young lady (from Venezuela, naturally) that worked there.  I understand the headphones come with a 3-month warranty.

I went by metro back to the Rosales station where I checked out a bike but soon realized I was overdressed.  I took the metro back to the apt and 30 minutes later I left to meet Chuck at the park at 12:30.

We were soon joined by the 33-year old black lady that Chuck tried to fix up with Ron.  We all had lunch together at Bartolos.  I downloaded Duolingo for her on her cellphone so she could learn English.  From there Chuck and I took a walk through the park where there were some strange goings on.  They handed out flyers announcing something else going on tomorrow from 10am to 4pm in the park.  We met a family from South Carolina and chatted with them for awhile.  We walked over to the bakery where I bought a tiramisu and a café con leche.  I had a few bites of it but took most of the rest of it home for the ladies.  Mickey, the gringo from Texas, soon joined us.  He mentioned that there was an earthquake last Monday morning.  I checked my Quakewatch app and it was a 5.2 at 10:42am.  We all left about 4pm.

According to Chuck, who has experienced a similar situation, for a spouse to receive SS benefits from her deceased husband, she must be a US resident and continue residing in the US at least 6 months each year.  So that leaves Teresa out of any possibility of receiving SS benefits.

At 5:30 I heard some thunder but it was still clear enough that I could see the moon to the east north east.  At 6pm it started raining and continued most of the night.

Teresa came back at 6:50pm with delicious turkey sandwiches from Exito.

The Cleveland Browns, with the #1 pick in the draft, selected quarterback Baker Mayfield.  For you Dawg Pound fans, just remember you could have had Sam Darnold.  And with the 4^th pick the Browns took Denzel Ward over Bradley Chubb.  Wow!  The Browns never change!

With the #8 pick in the draft the Chicago Bears selected linebacker Roquan Smith from Georgia.

I finally had to give up at 10pm to get ready (melatonin and no screen watching) for bed.

T-shirt of the day: Beat OSU.  Crack them nuts.

Thursday, April 26, 2018 – 1 of 2

0…Tonight is the first round of the NFL draft.

The Chicago Bears have the #8 pick.  My best guess: they would of course select defensive end Bradley Chubb but I’m sure he will already be gone.  Last year the Bears gave up their 3^rd round pick for this year to get Mitch Trubisky so they don’t have sufficient capital to trade up.  They could take guard Quenton Nelson but he might be gone also.  So, that leaves 2 choices, take a linebacker like Tremaine Edmunds or trade down for more picks.  I think most likely it would be the later.  Trade down a few picks and pick up another player in one of the late rounds.

I’ll post more later.  To be continued…

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

1…more…day!  I’m getting excited!

I only got up once during the night, about 4am, finally waking/getting up at 7:15.

At the gym I added 15# to 3 exercises, 5# to 1 exercise, and 2 ½ to another.  I’m happy to say that I’m not experiencing any problem with my leg curl exercise.  I completed all but 1 exercise in an hour and 45 minutes.

I noticed my audio is going to my laptop speakers again instead of my headphones.  Sigh!

I left the apt at 3:30 and quickly caught a taxi to El Tesoro mall.  I was early so I stopped in Carulla with my shopping list to check where things were.  While there I ran into Dr. Rendon’s wife and kids.  I was in his office 20 minutes early and he told me the patient before me was late.  We talked a bit about the skiing vacation they went on last December to North Carolina.  They all had a great time and want to return soon.  He told me that his kids (maybe just Manuel?) are going to summer camp in Orlando next June.  His patient showed up and she didn’t take long as he only needed to check something.  After my 160mil cleaning (about $55) I stopped in Carulla and picked up a few things.  I had about a 20 minute wait for a taxi back to Envigado.

We got some rain in the evening and during the night.  It’s been awhile since we last had rain and we soon should be entering the first rainy season of the year.

I had a chat with Rosetta Stone.  I wanted to know what make and model of headphones they recommend for version 5.  I guy named Thomas told me that any would work.  I guess it was just my old version 4 that they had specific requirements for.

I finished reading Along Came a Spider: Alex Cross #1 by James Patterson.

T-shirt of the day: Join your own flock.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

2 days …

Last night I woke up at 1am, 3am, and 6am, finally getting up at 7am.  Still I feel pretty good.

Laura left at 8:30.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show and left the apt at 9:30.  I took a bus to Envios Market where I picked up a package and paid 52,800 pesos shipping and taxes.  I gave the man 54mil and he gave me 400 pesos back.  I wrote on the receipt 54,000 -  52,200 = 1,800.  He asked me if I had 200 pesos and I said no and he gave me a 2mil bill.  (I had 200 pesos but I was keeping it for bus fare which is now 2,100 pesos per ride.) 

I took a bus to Starbucks where I bought a small white mocca latte.  I met a man named Andrew with a Cleveland Browns man bag.  He said he’s been in Medellin for 24 years so he was here for the bad times.  He said he personally saw 3 people get shot.  Yikes!

I walked across the street and up a block to Oviedo mall.  I stopped in Carulla and bought 3 bars of Dove body soap for about 10,000 pesos.  Here there was no line and I figured that wouldn’t be the case in the Envigado Exito.

I took a Sabaneta bus to Envigado and stopped at the copy center where I printed a couple pages from one of my Chess Life magazines.

I was back at the apt by 11:45.

Teresa and I left the apt at 2:30 and arrived at the clinic (Calle 4Sur #43AA-30 in Poblado) by 2:45 and I paid my 3mil copay.  We only had to wait about 20 minutes to get in to see the doctor.  He didn’t speak English but he was very patient.  He measured my height, weight and waist.

What I understood and remember: I should stop eating prepackaged hamburgers so Teresa is going to make them from fresh meat.  Instead of  the 3,000 pesos I usually spend on bread I should buy a better quality for about 25,000 pesos.  I should use regular butter instead of margarine.  I should drink 8oz of water 30 minutes before and after every meal.  (I got an exclusion for after dinner because of my enlarged prostate.)  I should eat a special type of yogurt called Benecol.  I should drink skim milk.

He also laid out the order in which I should eat my meals, for example, 1^st salad or fresh fruit, 2^nd white meat, 3^rd soup, 4^th seco which is Spanish for dry (not exactly sure what that entails).

We should make another appointment with Nueva eps in 4 months.

When we left Teresa told me she wanted to go to Zara.  She stopped a taxi and I told her we could walk to there from here.  After the taxi left I understood she wasn’t interested in Oviedo (no Zara) or Santafe (Zara is closed) but El Tesoro.  I told her why not go with me tomorrow for my dentist appointment.  She agreed and we took a taxi back to the apt.

On the way we stopped at a health food store where I bought a loaf of bread.

I had a “prepackaged” hamburger for dinner but I won’t be buying more after these are gone.

T-shirt of the day: If you can’t be happy, be drunk.

Monday, April 23, 2018

3 days and counting…

I slept pretty well last night except Teresa was snoring so loudly at 2am I had to wake her.

I have no signs of a cold today.

I guess we forgot to buy milk Saturday so I had to make a quick run to the corner store.

Laura left about 8:30 in the morning.  I understand she’s working this week at the same store she was at last December.

I just remembered that I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow with a nutritionist, of all things, so I won’t be able to play chess with Jose tomorrow.

At the gym I completed all but one exercise in an hour and 50 minutes.

Teresa informed me she has to go to the finca today to water the plants.  Then she said she can’t because it’s a “day without cars”.  I told her I saw lots of cars on the street today.  She said but no taxis.  I looked out the window and down the street and I could see taxis go by.  For some reason, unknown to me, she ended up not going.

A man delivered our new telephone book today.  It included yellow pages and even a few pages of coupons in the middle.

We took a nap from 1:30 to 2:30 for me and 3:30 for Teresa.

Teresa called Dr. Rendon and got me a dentist appointment for 4:30 on Wednesday.  We’ve decided to split up our dental cleaning appointments over this and the next 2 months.

Regarding the area under construction behind the library:  The back ¼ acre had all the grass removed, they dug a trench in the rear portion of that and inserted and buried a long large-diameter pipe.

I solved more puzzles on Chess Magnet School.

I just read in the news that early this morning there was a rock/mudslide southwest of Medellin.  No lives were lost but the town of Betulia, population 50,000, is isolated until it is cleared – probably by tomorrow morning.

T-shirt of the day: Call back.

Sunday, April 22, 2018

4 more days!

I woke up several times during the night.  I also woke up once about 6:30 by some man yelling in the street as to what he was selling.  I finally woke/got up at 8:45.

I had to blow my nose several time to clear it and I told Teresa that I might have a cold – what they call “gripa”.

I left the apt at 10:30 and walked down the hill to the “lower” Exito that happens to have a larger selection than the “upper” Exito that is closer to our apt.  First I stopped at Juan Valdez and had a café con leche while reading some of my Chess Life magazine.  Then I picked up a package of prepackaged, presliced cheddar cheese, a box of Cheerios, a loaf of bread, a small bunch of bananas and a bag of lemons.  I arrived back at the apt at noon.

Teresa made me hot lemonade with some of the lemons I just bought.

Again my headphones aren’t working – in either USB port.  I wiggled the cord in the port and then it started working; like the male end is loose.  Maybe I do need a new set of headphones.

About 7pm Teresa told me she wants to go for pizza.  I told her there’s a program – Westworld - I want to watch at 8pm.  

She left with Laura at 7:30 and came back at 8:45 with a slice of pizza and a coke for me.  Unfortunately, I had my TV headphones on and didn’t hear that it was raining so my gym shoes that were airing out in the window got a little wet.  Also, Westworld didn’t end until 9:15 and Teresa wanted to watch her Septima Dia at 9pm so I switched channels.  I thought I could finish my program on my slingbox but I found that my son doesn’t have HBO.  I was also surprised that Westworld didn’t have subtitles in Spanish.

I solved a few more puzzles on Chess Magnet School.

T-shirt of the day: Welcome to earth.

Saturday, April 21, 2018

5 more days!

Last night I woke up at 12:30 with minor heartburn.  I took a couple Tums and was soon back asleep.  For some reason I woke up at 4am but again was quickly back asleep, finally waking at 6:30 and getting up 7:30.

I received an email from Envios Market that I have a package awaiting pickup.

I played around with my headphones and I finally got them to work.  Not sure what I did.  Among other things I plugged them into a different USB slot and pressed the mute button on the headphones.  Btw, now they work in the original USB slot and the mute button is supposed to be only for the microphone.

About 1:30 Andres showed up with his sister and his backpacks.

The Colombian Peso closed at 2,758 to the US Dollar.

At 2:15 I left the apt and walked over to the bookstore where I exchanged my paperback plus 2,000 pesos for another.  I made a withdrawal from the ATM and then deposited 50,000 pesos into Laura’s account for the gym.  Hopefully that’s the last deposit I’ll have to make for Smartfit this month.

I spent about 2 hours chatting with a tech rep from Rosetta Stone.  He reloaded 3 of my language levels and sent me an email to reload the last 2.

About 5pm I gave Teresa 50mil and Andres and his sister soon left.  I think that’s the last we’ll be seeing of them.

Laura left about 6pm to meet with friends.

I downloaded and reloaded the last 2 levels and actually finished a Rosetta Stone lesson for the first time since July of last year.

I solved more puzzles on Chess Magnet School and was promoted to the title of Protector.

T-shirt of the day: Sex sells.

Friday, April 20, 2018

6 more days!

I fell asleep quickly last night – probably because of the exercise – and didn’t wake up until 5am, finally getting up at 6am.

I took a nap from 8:30 to 9am and then watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show.

I did all but one of my exercises in an hour and 50 minutes at the gym.  On the way back to the apt I stopped at Comfama and picked up a free Gente newspaper.

Among new US movie releases there isn’t anything I want to see.  Locally, there isn’t anything I want to see.

I met Chuck at Bartolos at 2:30.  We talked for awhile while watching workers set up a stage and a viewing area in the park.  There was a marching band getting set up that looked like it consisted of only grandmothers.  We walked up to La Vaquita where Chuck bought a meat plate for 5,000 pesos.  I stopped at the Todo Drogos and got a price check on Cialis for a friend: 1 20mg tablet for 25,400; 14 5mg tablets for 109,500; 1 Tadafilo (different brand) 20mg for 10,900.  After Chuck finished his meat plate we stopped at the new bakery for a snack.  While there at the next table was a Dutch guy talking to a Kentucky woman.  We went our separate ways about 5pm.

My headphones still aren’t working.  Maybe it’s time to buy a new pair.

About 7:15 Teresa and Laura went to visit MT.

About 8pm Teresa called me and invited me to join them at Wilson’s bar.  I was there 15 minutes later where I had a delicious chicken shish-kebab.  We left about 9:30.

T-shirt of the day: You can bow down now.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

7 days…and counting.

Last night I fell asleep quickly and didn’t awaken until 5am.  It took me about an hour or more to fall back asleep finally waking at 6am and getting up at 7am.

I received an email from Envios Market that I have a package waiting for pickup.

I watched the first 45 minutes of the Today show and then left in my shorts and t-shirt.

I took the metro and Metro Plus to the Rosales Station where I checked out a bike.  I rode over to the stadium and back.  I retraced my steps to the Industriales station and walked to Mercado del Rio where I had ribs at Piara.  I took a bus to Calle 10 and walked up the hill and through Parque Poblado to Envios Market.  I picked up a package for Teresa for 10,800 which happened to be the perfume she ordered.  I took a bus to Santafe mall and tried once again to make a withdrawal from Falabella’s ATM machine.  On the first try I was told that 600,000 pesos exceeded their limit.  On the next try for 500,000 pesos I was told that “at the moment we have technical problems.”  Sigh!

I walked the long block down to Starbucks where I ordered a white mocca latte and a slice of carrot cake for 16,800.  They still don’t make the coffee hot enough to my liking.  I read news on my cell phone for a while.  I walked across the street where 2 Sabaneta buses passed me before I could get to the other side.

I took the bus to Envigado and stopped at Exito where I bought a head of lettuce and a package of hot dog buns.  Luckily, at this hour – 4pm – the lines were very short.

Andres’ sister came over and picked him up about 7:30.  I understand he will move back here on Saturday and return to San Andres the next day.

Teresa finally informed me that I need to deposit another 198,800 pesos into the account for the gym.

T-shirt of the day: I don’t know how to give a shit.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

8 days…and counting.

Water was back on when I got up.  Yay!

Teresa gave me 60,000 pesos to cover Andres’ admission to the Dia de Sol.  We left the apt at 8:45 without having any breakfast.  At Mall Laureles the others had coffee or hot chocolate and arepas.  We left with a family of 4 from Rhode Island although the mother was originally from El Salvador.  They all spoke good English.  We stopped at the usual restaurant where I had calentado with eggs and a café con leche.  I’ve covered this day many times before so I won’t go over it again with the exception of unusual things.  I brought my chess set with me and I gave Andres a much needed lesson.  I was getting warm in the afternoon so I decided to take a dip.  Teresa was napping so I dug through her beach bag looking for my swimsuit.  She told me she didn’t bring it.  She asked me why I didn’t remind her.  Well, I didn’t remind her all of the other times and she brought it.  So I wasn’t able to go swimming this time. 

We left a few minutes early, didn’t stop at the restaurant this time and we got through the tunnel about 15 minutes before the 8pm closing.

This time our driver dropped us off at San Diego mall as it was closer to the other family’s house and closer to Envigado for us.  We went inside the mall to quickly buy a few things at Exito but the guard wouldn’t let us in 20 minutes before closing.  The bathrooms were all locked up also.

We stopped at Dogger where we each had a hot dog and shared sodas.

We were back at the apt by 9:15.

T-shirt of the day: You can’t face the problem if the problem is your face.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

9 days and counting!

Last night I woke up around 2am with heartburn.  I took 2 Tums and had to sit up for awhile before it calmed down and I could get back to sleep.

My headphones aren’t working again.  Sigh!

I left the apt at 8:45 and arrived at the chess league at 9:30.  Jose showed up on time at 10am.  We played 2 games he winning one and I winning one.

For lunch we walked over to El Chaparral where I ordered their pepper steak, baked potato and salad.  They brought me my steak with a plate of French fries and white rice.  I dumped the rice on the gravy covering my steak only to find out that the meat was a little undercooked for my taste.  I asked the waiter for a baked potato and salad and he took my plate and returned it with the French fries and a baked potato and salad.  The steak was tasty although a little rare and a little spicier than I would have liked.

It started raining during our lunch and after Jose got permission for us to play chess at one of their back tables.  Jose won both games.  Sigh!

I returned to Envigado where I stopped at Exito and picked up some burgers, buns, and bread.

When I returned to the apt about 5:30 Andres had all his bags packed and waiting by the door.  I have no idea what’s going on except Teresa is all “shush”.

Teresa also informed me we have no running water.  Yikes!

Esmeralda arrived about 6pm.  Is she taking him for awhile?  I guess I’ll soon know.

Esmeralda left about 7:30 without Andres.

Finally Teresa told me something about he wants to stay a month and she said that’s too long so I understand he’s staying until Sunday and then moving in with his sister in Robedo (an area of Medellin).

Well, I don’t know what to say except Teresa and Andres had words.  At one point Andres went into his bedroom and closed the door and was talking to someone on the phone.  Teresa opened the door and I think told him to leave it open.  About 9:30 I gave Teresa 100mil and Andres left with all his baggage.  Well, that lasted all of 3 days.

Right now he’s sitting on the stairs downstairs and Laura is talking to him.  Teresa told him that’s he’s got to leave Sunday because she works (starts working?) on Monday.

It took a while but they finally got him sitting on the steps outside our door.

By 10:30 they got him back inside.  Oh, the drama.

Teresa says he’s only staying until Sunday.  Then she tells me he’s never been anywhere so she wants us to go to Santafe de Antioquia tomorrow. 

Okay.

Teresa informed me that we're supposed to get water back at 4am tomorrow morning.

T-shirt of the day: There is no off season.

Monday, April 16, 2018

10 days and counting!

I woke up at 2am, again at 4am and had difficulty falling back asleep.  I woke up at 6am and just rested until I got up at 7:30.

Teresa asked me to have Jose help me at the gym to see how much I need to put in Laura’s account.

I gave Teresa 300mil to buy paint for Andres to paint the finca and another 20mil for bus money.

I read that Kraft is going to market a new product – a combination of ketchup and mayo that they will call Mayochup.  First, that’s a stupid name.  Second, they’ve had that here for years – it’s a pinkish sauce called rosado and people put it on burgers, hot dogs and even French fries.

Teresa told me that when she was at the airport one of the presidential candidates was there along with lots of press and photographers.

After Teresa left, someone rang out apartment from downstairs.  Laura didn’t come out to answer it so I picked it up and said my usual “no thank you” and hung up.  A couple minutes later it rang again and I waited and Laura finally came out of her room and answered it.  She told me that someone from the agency (real estate) is downstairs with a paper for me to sign.  How am I going to know what it says?  I went downstairs and a messenger handed me a letter and I had to sign a delivery form on his clipboard.  Back in the apt I quickly figured out that it was an announcement that our monthly rent is going up to 1,596,000 as of May 1^st.  That’s about a $20 increase from last year.

At the gym I did most of my exercises in an hour and 30 minutes.  I had Jose assist me at the main desk and I was told I need to put an additional 49,000 pesos in the account.  (Later Teresa asked me why the girl told her so much more.  I said, “I don’t know, I just did what you asked me.”)

I met Chuck at La Casita Parilla for lunch and Laura soon joined us.  They had the ribs but I was good and had the chicken breast.  We all had mango juice to go with it and the total came to 43,000 pesos (about $16).  Laura left and Chuck and I went to the bakery for coffee.  On our way I started telling him about the black Porsche convertible I saw parked on our block some weeks ago and shockingly we saw it there again.  He said that’s a $75,000 car.  I stopped briefly at Bancolombia and deposited 50mil into Laura’s account.  After coffee I left Chuck at 2:30 and took a bus to Oviedo.  I added 40 mil to my Cine Colombia account (I learned today that’s the minimum you can add) and I bought a general ticket for 10,500.  I bought a small popcorn and medium soda for another 13,200 giving me a remaining balance of 42,950.  The movie was good with lots of military action.  There were only 3 others in the theater.  As I left I noticed that all the coming movies appear to be Marvel superhero type movies – ugh!

When I left (about 5:30) I had the usual wait for a bus.  The first Sabaneta bus that came by didn’t stop because it was full.  I was starting to consider taking a taxi or an Envigado bus that would at least get me close to the park when another Sabaneta bus stopped.  I got on and thought I was the last as I was on the steps not being able to get through the turnstyle but another guy got on and he was on the bottom step.  I was able to stay in that spot as others got off at the back door and the driver let me off right on my street.

Teresa reported to me that it won’t work with Andres painting the finca.  Something about it being too much work.  She gave me 150mil back so I assume they already bought some paint.

Andres wanted to see Parque Envigado so he and Laura left the apt at 9:30.  They were back by 10:15 as I’ll bet there wasn’t much open that late on a weekday night.

T-shirt of the day: I’m the one I have been waiting for.

Sunday, April 15, 2018

I got up once at 2am, again at 3:30 and was awakened by a loud radio outside at 4am – like somebody turned their car on and had left the radio on.  It only lasted for a few seconds but the damage was already done – I was awake.  I questioned that theory when I heard it again a few minutes later.  Sigh!

I didn’t notice Teresa get up until 8am when she was leaving for the airport.  She told me she left her keys at MT’s apt so I should be sure to be back by 10:30 or 11 to let her and Andres in.

I got up and had breakfast (calentado sin arepa) at Carbón de Leña for 8,500.  They have a cute young black waitress working there now.  There was a public exercise class going on in the park with dozens of participants.

Teresa arrived with Andres at 11:20.  First impression, he looks like a street hood.  Or maybe just a country boy.  Hopefully that impression will improve over time.

He brought gifts: 3 boxes of marshmallow pies, 2 boxes of wafer cookies (all made in Chattanooga, TN), 3 bottles of piña colada mix, and 2 bottles of whiskey – interestingly, all in English.

Living on an island I understand he’s never seen mountains – especially interesting since most of Colombia is in the Andes.

At 12:30 it started raining but it only lasted 20 minutes.

Rhetorical question: I wonder what Melania Trump’s definition of a bully is.

I met Chuck at the park about 2pm.  He was already talking to a gringo named Dean from Alabama who turned out to be a very colorful character.  When Dean left we walked to the bakery where we each had dessert with coffee.  While Chuck and I walked thru the park we observed what were apparently random immission tests being performed out of vans on motorcycles and cars.  We soon met up with his wife Darnely.  I finally left about 5pm.

Andres, Laura and Teresa went down the hill to the larger Exito.  I think they were going to sell to someone some of the stuff he brought.

Am I the only one who is sick of hearing on the internet about Carrie Underwood’s face?

I had a talk with Teresa.  I understand Andres wants to make money painting the finca.  I told her that maybe he should have some time to see Medellin.  We agreed that it’s his decision – whatever is most important to him.  I think they will be going to the finca most days now.

T-shirt of the day: Get your fruit on.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

I got up once during the night, woke up at 6am and told Teresa the time.  Surprise, she got up to go to the clinic for her blood draw and give a urine sample.  I fell back asleep and woke/got up at 8am.

She returned while I was taking my shower.

I left the apt at 9:45 and quickly caught a bus to Poblado.  I got off and walked up to Clinica Medellin where I withdrew all 20s from their Servibanca ATM.  I walked the 3 blocks to Envios Market where I picked up my April Chess Life magazine, March Reader’s Digest and a package in a plastic UPS bag.  I paid the 3,600 peso tax and quickly caught an Envigado bus.  I got off at Office Depot and walked across the street and up a block to Starbucks.  I ordered a white mocca latte, extra hot, but it never seems to be hot enough.  I drank it outside in the fresh air while finishing my March Reader’s Digest.  I was there about 45 minutes and then I walked across the street and up to Oviedo mall to their bus stop.  Across the street I observed two young ladies in short jean shorts, t-shirt, and indian headress handing out free bottles of 7-UP.  My Sabaneta bus arrived in about 10 minutes.  I got off at Calle 38Sur and walked through the park to Copatra where I paid the Une bill and the electric bill for the finca.  I stopped at the copy center where I had 2 chess articles printed.  In Exito I picked up a few things and had to wait in line for about 15 minutes.  I was back at the apt by 12:30.

In the package were the two umbrellas I ordered from Shedrain and an iPad cover for Laura I bought on eBay.  I gave the umbrellas to Teresa and Laura and hopefully now they will keep their hands off mine.

About 2:20 it rained hard but stopped after about 30 minutes.

I solved more chess puzzles on Chess Magnet School and was promoted to the title of Defender.

From my April Reader’s Digest, “I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything.” Bill Bryson, Neither Here Nor There.

The Colombian Peso closed for the week at 2,710 to the US Dollar.

I finished reading the paperback On Wings of Eagles by Ken Follett and downloaded James Patterson’s Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross series #1).

T-shirt of the day: Love & Fuck.