Thursday, September 6, 2018

Last night I fell asleep quickly but Teresa woke me up at 2:30 to exchange my blanket for a sheet.  I think I just got up once more after that, finally waking at 6:30 and getting up at 6:50.

After my shower Teresa showed me the gym shorts and t-shirt she bought me last night.

I checked my Direct TV guide and the NFL season begins tonight with the Philadelphia Eagles against the Atlanta Hawks on Channel 1626 at 7pm.  I’ll probably watch it from 7pm to 8pm, Teresa will watch her Desafio program from 8 to 9, I’ll watch more football from 9 to 9:30, she will watch her Master Chef program from 9:30 to 10:30 and I might catch the very end of the game at 10:30.

I watched the first 40 minutes of the Today show and then walked down to the metro.  For the first time I saw people using the new pedestrian bridge over Calle 37 Sur.  I said hello to Herman and he informed me that the new Viva Mall Envigado will open for the first time on October 5^th which just happens to be Teresa’s birthday and one of the days I should be playing in the chess tournament.

I took the metro (and even got a seat) to Floresta Station.  I walked south from Calle 48 to Calle 47 to Calle 46 and I was thinking the next street would be Calle 45 and I would almost be at the NYC barber shop at Carrera 81 #45-182.  But the next street was Calle 45GG – uh-oh.

I was on Avenida 80 so I turned west and walked up a block and saw Carrera 81 but Calle #45-32.  To the north was a school so I figured my barbershop must be on the other side.  I walked around the block and found the address of Carrera 81 #46-08.  What?  I walked around the block again and then noticed that what I thought was #45-32 was #45F-32, I missed the little letter ‘f”.

I walked south a few blocks and finally arrived at the NYT barbershop.  I didn’t see anyone but I heard music in the background.  I called out and finally Alberto came to the door and let me in.  He was born in the Dominican Republic as was his wife.  He was raised on Long Island and worked in New York City in New York.  They have 3 children who speak Spanish and English.  At first they settled in the Bello neighborhood (far north end) of Medellin but he kept having to travel to the south side for work.  They have been in this location for the past 3 months or so.  I got a good haircut for 10,000 pesos.  I picked up a couple of his business cards (when I got back to the apt I noticed he doesn’t have an address on them) – not good.

I walked to Viva Laureles mall and by the time I arrived I was beginning to feel warm and I had a slight discomfort in my right hip.  I had chicken teriyaki at Sarku’s in the food court but I couldn’t get a good wifi connection so after I finished eating I went to Juan Valdez and ordered a café con leche and at the bottom of the receipt they print their wifi password (I don’t know how often it changes).

Across the street I took a Circular Sur bus to Calle 10 in Poblado.  The sky was overcast so I walked up to Parque Poblado.  Just as I decided I would sit outside the police station and use their wifi I felt a couple raindrops so I hustled over to Envios Market where I paid the box rental for September.

I walked up to Clinica Medellin where I withdrew some small bills (all 20mil) from their ATM.  Back across the street I got lazy and caught a bus up to Oviedo.  I walked back less than a block to McDonalds where I found their sylized “M” sitting on the ground next to a crane.  Obviously they did some maintenance on it like caulking.  Inside I had a small Cappuccino Mocca for 5,900 pesos.  Outside on their patio I used their wifi for 45 minutes or so.

As I left they were just hoisting the ‘M’ back onto its pedestal.

I quickly caught a Sabaneta bus back to the apt.

Teresa gave me a Social Security form #7162 that her mother received.  It’s a simple form that asks if there have been any changes in her beneficiary information.  The only possible hangup is that it appears it was sent out on June 1^st and it states that if they don’t receive an answer in 60 days they could suspend her benefits.  Ouch!

I filled out the form, MT signed and dated it.  I can send it back to the US from Envios Market.

Teresa went with her mother to an outlet store in the Buena Mesa area to look for a top she can wear to the gym.

She came back and reported that the outlet store was closed so they went to Santafe mall where she found a couple of tops.

I wanted to watch the Eagles vs Falcons game scheduled to start at 7:20 but there was an electrical storm in the vicinity and at 8pm I had to give up the TV for Teresa’s Desafio program.  I got it back from 9 to 9:30 and then after 10:30 and I saw the exciting ending.  Just a few more days until the Bears game against the Packers.

We got a little rain during the night.

Today’s Step Count was 12,473.

Joke of the day

A man has six children and is very proud of his achievement. He is so proud of himself he starts calling his wife, "Mother of Six" in spite of her
objections.
One night they go to a party. The man decides it’s time to go home and
wants to find out if his wife is ready to leave as well.  He shouts at the
top of his voice, "Shall we go home Mother of six?"
His wife irritated by her husband's lack of discretion shouts right back,
"Anytime you're ready, Father of Four."