Monday, July 30, 2018

I only got up once during the night, waking up at 5am and getting up at 6am.

At the gym I completed all my exercises in an hour and 50 minutes.  I saw Charles and he invited me to join him and a friend some day to go to a local park where they photograph birds.  I told him I need to add more walking to my exercise routine so I would be happy to.

Teresa has a 4pm massage appointment so I’m going to see Mission Impossible at Oviedo at 3:20.

I left the apt at 2:30 and quickly caught a bus to Oviedo mall.  I arrived about 20 minutes early.  Just as I walked inside I could hear it raining hard outside.  I added 40mil to my Cine Colombia account and bought a general seating ticket for 10,500.  (I believe I now have 21 total ticket purchases on my Cine Colombia card.)  My seat was in the next to last row on the aisle with an empty seat between me and 2 already sold seats.  After reading some from my Nook I made a trip to the restroom and then bought a small popcorn and medium soda for about 12,500 pesos leaving me with a balance of about 33mil.  I arrived during the ads and who was in the next seat but Chris, the previous owner of the Flip Flop Sandwich Shop.  I had some trouble following the entire plot of the 2 hour and 27 minute movie but the action sequences were great.

Outside it was misting slightly and there were quite a few people waiting for buses.  I purposely let a couple of Envigado buses pass by because they were filled to the gills.  After a 10-15 minute wait I got standing room only on a Sabaneta bus.

I got off across from Exito, made a quick trip to print something out at the local copy center and arrived back at the apt just before 7pm.

Teresa had me put my signature and cedula number on a handwritten note she addressed to the real estate agency.  If I understand correctly it’s a request to leave the apt in November so I guess she’s serious about moving to Laureles or San Joaquin.

Today’s Step Count was 7,552.

T-shirt of the day: I’m not hungover, I have the wine flu.

Sunday, July 29, 2018

I got up a couple times during the night finally waking at 8am and getting up at 9am.

After a breakfast of French toast I left the apt about 10:30 and joined the Ciclovia in progress.  I walked down to Euro in about 25 minutes where I observed an exercise class going on outside with dozens of people.  On the way back I walked around the 2 square blocks of the restaurant area – Buena Mesa.  I took another slight detour and went up one of those diagonal streets but headed back to the main road after about 3 blocks so as not to get lost.

I took a nap from about 3:15 to 4:15.

It rained in the afternoon for about 20 minutes.

Teresa left the apt to take her mother, who is bored, to Santafe mall.

I left the apt about 4:30 and walked to the park.  There were tables available outside Bartolos but I continued on to the furthest bakery where I had a café con leche and churro while looking at a chess magazine.

It had turned quite a bit cooler after the rain and I realized I had missed a good opportunity to wear a warmer t-shirt.

In the evening I watched Blide Side – again – on Direct TV.

Today’s Step Count was 9,761.

T-shirt of the day: Not my problem, honey.

Saturday, July 28, 2018

I slept pretty well despite getting up once during the night, finally waking at 5am and getting up at 6am.

After a cereal breakfast I took a little nap from 8:30 to 9.

I left the apt about 9:30 and on my way downtown I ran into Laura.  I showed her my cellphone and asked her what happened to my Whatsapp messages that had seemed to have disappeared.  She pressed some button about 4 times and there were my messages.  Will I ever learn how this thing works?

I took a bus to Envios Market where I picked up a couple bottles of supplements I had ordered for 7,200 pesos and paid the mailbox rent for August of 39,000 pesos.

It was such a nice cool morning I walked up to Starbucks where I had a medium café mocca blanco for 10,400 pesos.  I sat outside and checked the news on my cellphone.

I walked over to Oviedo mall where I dropped off a used AA battery in one of their recyclable containers.  I stopped at their event area where I took a few photos of a roller rink they have temporarily set up.  Near the entrance they have a Dogger restaurant and an area that looks like an American diner.

Outside I quickly caught a Sabaneta bus back to Envigado.

I stopped at Exito and picked up a head of lettuce that Teresa asked for and a package of hamburgers for me. 

On the way back to the apt I was surprised that the local copy center was closed.

When I got back to the apt I found a Whatsapp message from Laura asking me to also pick up tomatoes.  I didn’t receive it because Exito doesn’t have wifi.  One of these days I’ll add a data plan with LG or whatever it’s called.

I understood Laura got her hair done for an upcoming wedding but it didn’t look anything special and it appeared that Teresa gave her hell for paying 30mil for it.

The Colombian Peso closed for the week at 2,887 to the US Dollar.

I gave Laura 100mil so she could get her hair fixed.

I learned the wedding is tonight at 6pm.

I went downtown where I printed out some chess notes.  I then had coffee at one of the bakeries.  I picked up 3 bags of milk on the way back to the apt.

Laura came back with a package of hair extensions for 75mil.  She then left to get them attached.  The 2’-3’ package was in English and I understood the hair was either from Japan or Korea.

She came back and it looked real pretty attached as a pony tail.  She changed into a sexy dress and asked me to call an Uber car for her.  The address she gave me didn’t register because I was told the hotel is in Poblado when it’s officially in Envigado.

She left about 6:05 and the Uber app notified me she arrived at 6:30.

I changed into nicer jeans and short sleeved shirt and left the apt at 7:15.  Teresa wasn’t interested in going with me.  I stopped at a corner liquor store and bought a bottle of Gato Negro wine for 28,000 pesos.  I walked to the gym and then continued south.  About 6-7 blocks later I was across from the soccer field near Margarita’s apartment.  Remember her?

I seemed to have gone a little too far so I retraced my steps a couple blocks and called Charles.  I told him I was on the corner of Carrera 41 and Calle 40F Sur.  He told me to continue south a couple blocks and turn left.  I did and then walked up a hill to the corner.  Finally he could see me from his 5^th floor apartment.  He buzzed me into the building and I had to walk up 4 flights – no elevator.

He has a small 2 bedroom apartment and I was the first one there.  I gave him the bottle of wine and we talked while he puttered around the kitchen.  Finally we sat down and talked.  About 15 minutes later other guests arrived – 4 gringos and a Colombiana.  Three of the gringos were black and the other was from India.  Charles made spaghetti with meat sauce that was good and he also had some snacks set out.  One guy was from New York and he gave us the history of Donald Trump and his father and grandfather and why 80% of New Yorkers can’t stand him.  Too soon it was 9:45 and I said by goodbyes.  I walked through the park about 10pm and people were still partying and sitting outside talking.

I was back at the apt just after 10pm.

Today’s Step Count was 13,779.

T-shirt of the day: Size matters.

Friday, July 27, 2018

I slept pretty well despite getting up several times during the night, finally waking at 5am and getting up at 6am.

After breakfast I laid down on the couch and took a nap for 30 minutes or so.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show and left for the gym.  I completed all my exercises in 2 hours.  For the last hour or so Teresa was on a treadmill next to the young lady who looks like a doll.  They both finished running and then just talked to each other for another 30 minutes or so.

When I finished Teresa and I left together although she made a slight detour to pick up something from Tienda D1.

Teresa had a massage appointment at 2pm at Stella Duran.  At 1:30 I called for an Uber car.  It took about 10 minutes but he finally arrived and took us to Stella Duran for 8,000 pesos.

While Teresa went inside I walked across the street where I found a copy center to print a couple things from my flash drive.  I then went over to Casa Blanca Hostel where I had a small bottle of water.  Their internet connection wasn’t very strong so I played a few chess games against the computer at Level Hard and then read some from my paperback book.

Teresa returned at 3pm and we took a taxi to Santafe mall.  Even though I don’t have any money Teresa wanted to check out their sales.  While Teresa did that I waited outside.  After about 45 minutes she came out and informed me that they have some pretty things that are very inexpensive.  I reminded her again that I don’t have any more money this month.  She found some shoes and called Laura who took a bus right away.  After Zara they checked out Forever 21.

Outside we quickly caught a taxi back to the apt for 10,000 pesos.  I thought the taxi driver might have been on drugs because he was so impatient he just couldn’t seem to sit still.

Among new US movie releases I would like to see Mission Impossible – Fallout (8.7).  Locally, Mission Impossible is playing at 3:20 at Oviedo.

I’m still working on preparing myself for the tournament next weekend.

Today’s Step Count was 6,246.

T-shirt of the day: Toronto pig save.

Thursday, July 26, 2018

I got up several times during the night, finally waking at 5:30 and getting up at 6:30.

I made a quick trip to the corner store for milk for breakfast.

After breakfast I made a quick trip to Exito mainly for the brand of eggs that Teresa prefers.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show then made a quick trip to La Abuela Isabela for a cake for 20mil to take to the Cruz’s house.  They store didn’t have Tiramisu so I got coffee which they said should be similar.

At 10:30 I called for an Uber car and notified Teresa.  She panicked because she wasn’t quite ready.  The driver arrived 10 minutes later and I went downstairs and asked him to wait a few minutes.  No problem.  Teresa came out and we arrived at Jose and Maria’s apartment for 13,100 pesos.

I had Black in the first game which was close but I missed a move in the middle game which gave him the advantage in the endgame and he won.

Jose and I talked about an interesting chess book I found on the internet called The Woodpecker Method.  Basically the way it works is that you go through a long set of tactics and note how long it takes.  Then you go through them again improving on your time.  Then you repeat it with the intent that they will become ingrained in your memory making them much easier to identify and solve in the future.

Maria made a nice lunch and Jose and I played game 2.  I was soon in trouble but sacrificed a few pieces and was able to force to get a draw by repeatedly checking his king.

We got about 5 minutes of rain during our second game.

We took another Uber back to the apt for 14,300 pesos.  We got some more rain on the way but it had stopped by the time we arrived back in Envigado.

I ordered the chess book Jose and I talked about with the last of the money I have for this month in my checking account.

We got a little more rain in the evening.

Laura still hasn’t heard anything more from the Orthodox Jewish family from New Jersey.

Today’s Step Count was 5,129.

T-shirt of the day:

BA     C     O     N

Au56 Au6 Au8 Au7

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

I only woke up once during the night finally waking at 6:30 and getting up at 7am.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show and left for the gym where I completed all my exercises in an hour and 50 minutes.  I saw Charles and he invited me to his birthday party for this Saturday night.  He gave me his business card which looked awful familiar; I think he gave me one before and I never contacted him.  My bad!

I was getting ready to go to Exito to pick up some much needed items but Teresa said we also need chicken so we should go to Euro.  Fine!  Then she asks me to go to Euro alone and she tells me she’ll give me a note to give to the butcher.  I know if I do this alone one time she’ll want me to do this every time.  I think we’re going to wait until sundown and then we’ll go together.

At 6:15 I called for an Uber car and I watched him make his way to us via the app.  I almost made the cardinal sin when I started to get in the backseat with Teresa.  This isn’t a taxi so someone needs to sit in the front.  The fee for the 17 minute ride to Mayorista was 8,400 but I gave the driver 10mil.  The fee was a little higher because it was a high traffic time of the day.

I got a cart and Teresa waited for a butcher to give her the chicken while I went and picked up other things.  There were a few things they didn’t have – like Teresa’s preferred brand of eggs – so I’ll still have to make a quick trip to Exito tomorrow.  The total bill came to 427,415 pesos.  They loaded all our groceries into an SUV and he took us back to the apt.  The driver only asked for 7mil but we’ve usually given 10mil so I gave him that.

We had to carry all the groceries up the stairs by ourselves because Laura was at the gym.

Today’s Step Count was 8,189.

T-shirt of the day: Wish you were beer.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

I was awakened about 3am by a light rain.  I had a pair of gym gloves airing out in the window.  I moved them as now they will need drying out but there’s plenty of time to do that.  I got up once more about 5am, waking at 6:15 and getting up at 6:30.

I called Jose and let him know I could meet earlier so we agreed on 9:30 instead of 10.  I was going to wear shorts but noticed the high is only supposed to be 79 with a chance of rain so I went ahead with jeans.

I left the apt at 8:25 and walked down to the metro.  On the way I noticed that workers now have the pedestrian bridge crossing Calle 37Sur.  I said a quick hi to Herman.

I arrived at the chess league at 9:20 and Jose arrived 5 minutes later.

In the first game I had White and he played the Caro-Kann defense which is one of the openings I had studied.  He found a novelty move on his 7^th move which took me out of the book.  I generated some pressure against him but then I blundered and he forked both of my rooks with his knight but I still found a way to force a draw by repetition.

We walked over to Tropical restaurant where we both had the menu of the day for 10,500 pesos each.

Back at the chess league I had the Black pieces and we had a close game with him having the advantage in the endgame but he blundered and left a rook hanging.  At one point it started raining but only lasted about 5 minutes.

Before leaving I stopped in their restroom and they had toilet seats but today no toilet paper but I had a small package that I carry with me.  It turned out to be a false alarm.

I walked with Jose as far as the Stadium Station.  On the way I remembered that I forgot what I did with the package of toilet paper.  I looked through my pockets, my tech bag and my fanny pack but couldn’t find it anywhere.  I said goodbye to Jose and headed for the public restroom.  I gave them 800 pesos and they gave me a wad of toilet paper but the toilet didn’t have a toilet seat. 

After I finished I went upstairs and took the metro back to Envigado.

I took the bus up to the park.  I stopped at Bartolos where I had a café con leche for 1,600 pesos.  While I was there it rained for about 5 minutes.

I stopped at an ATM and made my last withdrawal for the month.

Back at the apt while changing out of my jeans a package of toilet paper fell on the floor.  Interesting!

I understand Laura is dog sitting today for her cousin today.

It rained from about 6pm to 6:30.

When Laura returned we coerced her into going out and bringing back empanadas for dinner.

I finished reading Michael Connelly’s Two Kinds of Truth (Harry Bosch #19).

Today’s Step Count was 10,998.

T-shirt of the day: Shut up and kiss me.

Monday, July 23, 2018

Last night I fell asleep quickly, only got up once at 5am, finally waking/getting up at 7:30.

We were out of milk again so I had to make an early morning run to the corner store.  I think I’d better by 3 bags of milk every Saturday instead of 2.

This morning I finally finished my Welch’s grape jelly and opened the jar of Knotts Berry Farm strawberry preserves.

Teresa is heading to the finca today.  I understand the slide lock on the new gate isn’t flush with the other side so it doesn’t work.  She talked about buying a chain while I recommended she get the man who installed the gate to fix it.

I completed all my exercises in the gym in an hour and 50 minutes.

Laura texted me that she’s going with her grandmother to get her hair done and she would let me know when they are finished.

Later Laura texted me she’s still with her grandmother so I should go to lunch alone.

I left the apt about 1:15 and walked the 20 minutes to Papa John’s where I had an individual Pomodoro pizza with a large Coke.  I took my time and then walked to Bartolos where I had a limonada de coco for 6mil.

I was back at the apt by 5pm and Teresa was already there.

I spent more time studying chess openings and tactics.

T-shirt of the day: Run like you got a pair.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

I fell asleep quickly but got up 3 times during the night.  I finally woke up at 8am and got up at 8:30.

At 10:15 I left the apt in shorts and sleeveless t-shirt and joined the Ciclovia crowd.  For the first time I saw a few wheelchairs with bicycles mounted on the back.  I walked down to Carulla but this time crossed the street and went inside the Euro grocery store.  I didn’t see anything really different except imported oranges so I bought a couple for 4,000 pesos.  I was back at the apt by 11:30.

Teresa decided she wanted to go to Parque de Uva (Grape Park) across from El Tesoro mall.

We ordered a full chicken from Frisby plus salads and drinks for 63mil.

After the food arrived I called for an Uber car.  It took 10 minutes to get to us but it only cost 10,100 pesos to take us to the park.  We picked up MT on the way.

We had a nice picnic lunch.  I was surprised I was able to get wifi there; that was a nice plus.

At one point we were sitting at some metal tables and I noticed blood on our table.  I had opened my cut again.  Teresa talked to a man working there and he got a first aid kit and Teresa put some gauze and tape to cover it.

Laura and I walked over to a nearby burger restaurant where we got mixed soft serve ice cream cones for us and a bottle of water for Teresa.

We all walked across the street to the mall and walked around a bit.  We quickly caught a taxi and it cost 13,300 pesos to drop MT off near her apt and then take us home.

The Colombian Peso closed for the week at 2,870 to the US Dollar.

Laura’s all excited because she was contacted by a family from Clifton, NJ that is looking for an au pair.  They have 3 children ages 7 years, 4 ½ years, and 15 months.

I read the fact that they have a cat and she said she’s afraid of cats but when she saw that the cat is white she said that’s okay, she’s only afraid of black cats.  Go figure!

The 2 older children go to school from 8am-4pm so Laura would mainly be taking care of the toddler during the day.

A possible hangup is that they want someone to start before September.

I read the couple’s letter and they both are from the former Soviet Union with parents living nearby and they are Orthodox Jewish.  I warned Laura that experiencing their religion will be very different from what she’s used to and she should google Orthodox Jewish so she has a better idea what to expect.

Today’s Step Count was 11,039.

T-shirt of the day: No onion please.

Saturday, July 21, 2018

I fell asleep rather quickly and only got up once during the night.  I woke up at 6:30 and Teresa got up at 7am and I started to get up also.  I noticed it was raining lightly.  Right away she came back to bed and asked me to return also, which I did.  She got up at 7:30 and told me to stay in bed and she would call me when my pancakes were ready.  I guess I fell back asleep because the next thing I know she says they are ready.  It was about 8:45 and it had stopped raining.

I left the apt about 10:30 and found the local copy center closed.  I walked over to the larger one on the other side of the park and it was open.  I had a chess article printed out and the upcoming chess tournament schedule.

I understand Teresa called Maria and thanked her for the carrot cake and in their conversation they decided we would get together at their apartment next Thursday.

Not for the first time I saw a 60-second commercial today for Shriner’s Hospital for Children.  Interestingly, it’s all in English – I hope they’re not wasting their money on advertising to a predominantly Spanish speaking population.

I spent part of the day studying chess openings and tactics.

Today’s Step Count was 4,480.

T-shirt of the day: Negro Hulk.

Friday, July 20, 2018

Last night I fell asleep quickly.  I have a vague feeling that I woke up about 4:30 but didn’t get up and quickly fell back asleep.  I finally woke up at 6:15 and got up at 6:45.

Well, today is Colombia’s Independence Day.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show and left for the gym. 

After I had walked a few blocks I realized I forgot to bring 1,000 pesos to buy a Q’Hubo newspaper.  The usual newsboy wasn’t on his corner and the stand that sells newspapers was missing also so maybe there is no newspaper for the holiday.

Most of the stores across from Exito were closed but only about half on the next block leading to the park.

They had a street closed off for Ciclovia and there was an exercise class going on in the park outside Bartolos.

I completed all my exercises in an hour and 45 minutes.

After lunch I was sitting on the couch when I noticed a little blood on my lower forearm.  Then I noticed blood on the couch that I had obviously put there.  In the bathroom I was finally able to see more blood on my elbow that I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to see without the mirror.  I have no idea how I got cut but I rinsed it, put on some Neosporin and topped it with a bandaid.  Then after a quick Google search I got a small towel, dipped it in water and blotted out the stain.

I left the apt, took a bus to Oviedo where I added 50mil to my Cine Colombia balance and bought 3 tickets to the 7pm showtime. It cost a total of 46,500 pesos for 3 preferred seating tickets.

I was going to stop for a smoothie next door at McDonalds but I felt stuffed from lunch so I just stopped in Starbucks, mainly for their air conditioning, and read some news from my cellphone.

I walked outside and found a Sabaneta bus waiting for me.  I had my choice of seats but took one in the back next to the window.  The driver waited at least 5 minutes before pulling away from the curb.

I was back at the apt by 2:45 and the wet spot on the sofa was almost completely dry with the blood stain barely noticeable. 

At 3pm Teresa and Laura went to get their nails done.

I worked on analyzing the first of my chess games that I played yesterday with Jose.

Teresa came back at 5:30 and reported that, I guess for the first time, a man did their nails.  She was not happy about the job he did.  I guess they are still sexist here!

About 6:15 I called for an Uber car and it arrived in about 10 minutes.  It cost 8,200 pesos to take us to Oviedo mall.  First we stopped at Subway where Teresa bought a turkey sandwich that she smuggled into the theater in her purse.  Upstairs at the theater there was a line for tickets that luckily we were able to skip because there were huge lines for the concession counter.  We waited in line, bought 3 sodas, large and small popcorns and a hot dog for Laura for 44,600 pesos leaving me a balance of 17,600.

By the time we got to our seats the theater was packed and we had missed the first 5 minutes or so of the movie.

Despite a 6.1 IMDB rating I thought the movie Skyscraper was good and I was even able to get through it without a trip to the restroom.  (There were some action spots in the movie where I said “you’ve got to be kidding me”.  Like when Dwayne Johson cuts a thick elevator cable with one swing of an axe.)

After the movie we quickly caught a taxi back to the apt for another 8,200 pesos.

I believe I now have 20 total ticket purchases, 2/3 the way to my Platinum Cine card.

I’m wondering how the late movie snack will affect me tonight.  The salt from eating half a large tub of salted popcorn could give me a headache.  The liquid from the medium soda could get me up during the night and the caffeine it contained could prevent me from even falling asleep.

Just before we went to bed it started raining lightly.

Today’s Step Count was 10,165.

T-shirt of the day: Kiss cancer goodbye.

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Typical night.  I got up 2-3 times during the night, woke up at 6:30 and got up at 7.

I left the apt just before 9am in shorts and sleeveless t-shirt.

This time I didn’t bring my chess board and pieces as the chess league has boards embedded in the tables and Jose said he would bring his chess pieces and clock.

On the metro I briefly met a man from Switzerland who was visiting with his young daughter of about 8-9 years old.  They were on their way to visit Plaza Botero.

I arrived at the chess league just before 10am and Jose was waiting for me.  With his help I signed up for next month’s Flower Faire tournament for 76,000 pesos.  This will be a large tournament with hundreds of players.  Jose says they already have players enrolled from Spain and Cuba.  Jose gave me a large slice of carrot cake that his wife Maria made.  Yum!

I got the White pieces and won a long close game.  I had 2 connected passed pawns 2 squares away from queening while he got a mating attack against me. He probably should have won but he made one move a little too quickly and he ended up losing.

We walked over to Tropical restaurant for lunch.  I had the menu of the day and Jose had their mixed lasagna.  I ate most of my bean casserole but got the rest to go.

Back at the chess league I had the Black pieces and Jose won in the endgame.  Jose believed I could have gotten a draw but we both know I’m not strong in the endgame.

Today I practiced keeping score in Spanish instead of English.  What’s the difference?  In the following, the first column shows the English notation, then the piece in English, and then the Spanish notation (with explanation).

K = King = R for Rey

Q = Queen = D for Dama (lady)

R = Rook = T for Torre (tower)

B = Bishop = A for Alfil

N = Knight = C for caballo (horse)

P = Pawn = is just notated by the square it moves to.

Anyway, we both feel like we’re close to being in shape for next month’s tournament which is only 2 weeks away.

On the metro, at the Poblado station, I saw the same man from Switzerland that I had seen this morning.  We both waved as he passed my car in the Poblado station.  I got a seat next to a woman and I wish I could describe the “coat” she had on.  It was long sleeves, looked to be a tight knit and when she got up to leave it came down to her knees and she didn’t appear to be uncomfortably warm in it at all.

Back in Envigado all the tables were taken at Bartolos so I had a small coffee for 1,800 pesos at the small bakery.  I bought a kilo of strawberries from a man in the park for 10mil but from experience buying a kilo so often I’m pretty sure he shorted me on the weight.

I was back at the apt by 5pm.

Teresa returned at 7pm and said she has to return one more time, probably next Tuesday when I go to play chess with Jose.

For dinner I had leftovers – jumblaya from yesterday and the casserole from today’s lunch.  And I sneaked a little piece of carrot cake.

Teresa has been complaining that I overfill the water chamber in the fridge and it spills on the floor.  I got my flashlight and discovered it’s from the little catchbasin on the outside of the fridge.  It’s full so when the door swings open or closed some spills out on the floor.

I asked Teresa if she wanted to see Skyscraper (6.2) tomorrow starting at 7pm at Oviedo.  She said yes.  I said after lunch I would go and buy tickets so we know we will have seats when we arrive shortly before showtime.

Since tomorrow is Colombia’s Independence Day I asked the ladies if the gym is open tomorrow.  Teresa seems to think it will be closed and Laura thinks it will be open until 5pm so we’ll see.

Today’s Step Count was 10,220.

T-shirt of the day: I’m dumb or maybe just happy.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Typical night.  I got up twice during the night, woke up about 5:30, got up at 6:30.

I sneaked in a little nap between 8:15 and 8:45.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show and headed for the gym.  I did all of my exercises in an hour and 45 minutes.

For lunch Teresa decided to make Jumbalaya with the mix Chuck brought some months ago.  We needed some meat base so she sent Laura to Exito for sausage.  It turned out pretty good although a tad spicy.

I left the apt about 4:30 and walked over to Bartolos for a coffee.  There were no outside tables so I continued on to the nearest bakery.  I sat down at the only available table but after 10 minutes no one came to ask for my order so I got up and moved on to the next bakery.  Even there I had to wait 5 minutes to give my order.  I had a café con leche while checking the news on my cellphone.

I paid 1,600 or whatever it was for my coffee and walked over to the copy center where I had a few pages copied from my latest Chess Life magazine.

I was back at the apt just before 6pm.

Teresa said her mother called and she’s bored and wants to go to Home Center.  I told her I would skip it this time.

At 7pm Teresa asked me if I want to go for pizza.  (She asked me right after I ate a biscotti cookie with a glass of milk so her timing could have been better.)  I said fine as long as it’s a little later.

We left the apt just before 8pm, met MT down the hill and quickly caught a taxi to Antica Pizza for 6mil.  We each had a slice and got one to go for Laura.  The total bill including drinks came to about 58,500 pesos.  We had to wait 5 minutes or so to catch a taxi back for the minimum of 5,400 pesos.

Today’s Step Count was 8,894.

T-shirt of the day: I left my heart in (sic) my first date.

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Last night I woke up once about 3am, fell back asleep quickly, woke/got up at 7:30.

I forgot to mention that we got a little rain last night from about 9:30 to 10:15.  I think this is the first rain we’ve had since before my son arrived on July 2^nd.

I put on shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt and headed out the door at 9am.  I realized I forgot to recharge my iPod so I left it behind.  I did take my umbrella and the change for the chess league secretary.  I walked down to the metro and on the west line in the San Diego station an American woman got on with her 2 daughters.  They are visiting from Arizona and are going on a tour today of Communa 13 with its outdoor escalators.

I arrived at the chess league right at 10am and Jose was waiting for me.  I asked him if the secretary was there and he reported that now they have a new one so I guess I get to keep my change.

I had the White piecies in the first game and almost immediately got pressure against his king and queen and he was in a cramped position.  He repelled a couple of my attacks until I finally repelled his desperate attack and he resigned. 

We walked over to Tropical in Obelisca mall where we had their menu of the day for 10,500 pesos.  The soup was delicious but there was nothing special about the meat today. 

Jose told me he has a 3:30 doctor’s appointment today so we just walked back to the chess league where we showed each other a chess puzzle.

Jose checked and the fee for the amateur section of the upcoming Flower Faire tournament is 76mil.

We walked together as far as the Stadium Station.  I think we might get together to play again on Thursday.

At the San Antonio station I noticed a couple gringos who appeared not to be sure of where they were or were going.  I asked if they needed help but they said no.

By then I wasn’t paying attention when the train came in so I didn’t know if it was a local (La Estrella) or an express (Naranja or Verde).  This is only important because Verde doesn’t stop at the Envigado station.  I jumped on anyway and finally figured out that if it stopped at all stations (which it did) then I knew I was on the local.

In Parque Envigado I stopped at Bartolos where I had a limonada de coco.  I noticed that a Bartolos wifi network was available so I asked the waitress for the password.  She got it right on the second try.  For the first time in I don’t remember when I got a strong internet signal.  There were a couple of gringos sitting at the next table but I thought they were German.  They were having the menu of the day and at one point a drifter came over and appeared to ask her if he could have her leftover frijoles.  Another man with a uniform stood nearby as I don’t think that sort of thing is condoned here.

Todays Step Count was 8,670.

T-shirt of the day: Less Monday.  More summer.