Thursday, October 25, 2018

I got up once during the night, again about 5:30, finally fell back asleep after Teresa got up about 6:30, finally waking/getting up at 7:30.

I left the apt at 8am and arrived at Carbon de Leña for calentao and café con leche for 9,200 pesos ($3).  I could get wifi but I couldn’t get an internet connection.

Back at the apt I watched the first 45 minutes of the Today show.

I made plans to meet Chuck for lunch at Bartolos at noon.

I tried calling SS but they said all their operators are busy and to try later.

Our current apt is in strato 3 but the new apt is in strato 5 so our utilities should be more expensive.  This explanation isn’t in perfect English, but “When a member of the public services and belong to strata 1, 2 and 3 have a subsidy of up to 60% compared of invoice value. The layers 5 and 6 contribute 20% to the value of the service consumption (kWh month).”

In other words, us being in strato 5, we will be contributing something like 20% towards the support of the lower stratas (poor people).  (Socialism at its finest!)

I put 100mil on the kitchen table to remind Laura to schedule driving lessons.  (I wonder if I could go with her on one of her later lessons to point things out.  For example, you just changed lanes without putting on your turn signal – that will cost you $100 (half a weeks salary) in the States.)

Teresa said something about the administration for our new building wants us to move all our things in one day.  Teresa already has several bags of clothes packed; it would be nice to move those in and be able to reuse the bags another day.

I finally managed to get my Uber app working but I’ll try not to use it during peak times.

I called SS at 10:38 and was told there was a 55 minute wait.  This is going to be close regarding meeting with Chuck at noon.  They finally answered at 11:45.

I learned that the problem with MT not receiving her money is a problem with Bancolombia.  She can call the US embassy in Bogota and they should be able to help her.

I asked if Teresa could be her spokesperson if we filled out something like a Power of Attorney.  The rep said we can set up a Representative Payee but first we have to go through the foreign office in San Jose, Costa Rica at +506 2519 2228 Fax: +506 2291 1032 or email: FBU.costarica@SSA.gov.

I had found “If you are deaf or hard of hearing, call our toll-free TTY number, 1-800-325-0778, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.”  I asked the rep if this might work as MT probably doesn’t type and she certainly doesn’t speak English.  She didn’t know so I guess I’ll have to call the number myself and see what happens.

I finished with the call at 11:50, changed clothes, and arrived at Bartolos 5 minutes late and Chuck was waiting for me.  We got a table outside and after waiting 10 minutes for service we walked down to the new Italian restaurant Il Vizzto Pasta y Carne.  We had the menu of the day for 13mil each.  I had the lasagna which included mushroom soup, a small salad and juice.  There were also a couple pieces of dry toasted bread with what looked like a butter stain on top.  (I should teach them how to make garlic bread.)

After lunch we walked down to the corner bakery where I had a churro with café con leche and Chuck had a couple cookies with a tinto.  Chuck questioned whether Sport Wings would stay open until the Sunday Night Football game ends about 10:30.  (Later I checked and responded that the mall closes at 8pm on Sunday so it’s difficult to believe the restaurant would stay open much after that.  We need to come up with an alternate plan.)

All in all we talked for a couple of hours then walked over to the new Colpatria bank where Chuck tried to withdraw first 800mil then 550mil using his (for emergencies only) Discover card.  In both attempts the machine said “I can’t do that right now.”

We said goodbye and I headed back to the apt.

Nobody was there so I texted Laura asking her location.  She replied that she was at the new apt and that I should come.  I walked down to Avenida Las Vegas down the street to McDonald’s and up the road a bit and turned north.  I arrived at the apt complex in 16 minutes and the portero (security guard) thankfully was expecting me and let me in without question.

Everyone was there including Juanita the saleslady.  My simple wish list for a new apt included: elongated toilet seats, hot water showers, and windows not facing south.  I won on all counts.  We looked over things more carefully.  For example, I measured the height of the balcony wall and it was 100 centimeters (3’4”).  We opened all the windows and got a good breeze.  Almost every window faces west so we won’t be getting a lot of sun during the day.  Juanita went over the place carefully and wrote down things that needed fixing.  She called someone and for 90mil a guy changed the front door lock.  (I understand we get the keys after the owner signs the contract.)  I measured the balcony sliding glass doors and wrote it down as 115 cm and now I can’t see that that’s correct; way too short.  On our way out Juanita showed Laura the storage space in the garage – number 88.

Esmeralda was waiting outside for us and she gave us a ride back to the apt.  She tried the exercise bicycle but I don’t know what she decided.  I took varous measurements of it for her and I understand she’s going to see how it fits in her apartment.

Teresa and Esmeralda went to the mall to shop and Laura and I stayed behind in the apt.

I think I’ll watch some Thursday Night Football tonight.

Teresa informed me that: 1) the new apt owner might sign the documents tomorrow, 2) if he does then we can start moving things in on Saturday, 3) we don’t have to move everything on one day as long as we restrict ourselves to Saturday from 8am to 1pm, Monday thru Friday from 9am to noon and 2pm to 5pm, 4) Teresa talked to the woman at the antique store where we bought our living room furniture and she said we could exhange our large, heavy six person finca dining room table for a smaller one that seats four, 5) if our patio blinds are too small to fit in the new apt we can get a longer thingy that attaches to the ceiling and just add more vertical blinds, 6) I’ll measure the bedroom windows and buy cheap horizontal blinds at Home Center and install those.

Joke of the day

A married couple went to the hospital to have their baby delivered.

Upon their arrival, the doctor said that the hospital was testing an amazing new high-tech machine that would transfer a portion of the mother's labor pain to the baby's father.  He asked if they were interested. Both said they were very much in favor of it.

The doctor set the pain transfer to 10% for starters, explaining that even 10% was probably more pain than the father had ever experienced before.  But as the labor progressed, the husband felt fine and asked the doctor to go ahead and kick it up a notch.

The doctor then adjusted the machine to 20% pain transfer. The husband was still feeling fine. The doctor then checked the husband's blood pressure and was amazed at how well he was doing.

At this point they decided to try for 50%. The husband continued to feel quite well.

Since the pain transfer was obviously helping the wife considerably, the husband encouraged the doctor to transfer ALL the pain to him.

The wife delivered a healthy baby with virtually no pain and the husband had experienced none. She and her husband were ecstatic.

When they got home they found the mailman dead on the porch.