Sunday, January 6, 2019

Last night I went to bed at 11pm and it took me a little while to fall asleep.  I woke up at 5am and my rain app was still playing so I guess I messed up setting the alarm.  I believe it took me about an hour to fall back asleep finally waking/getting up at 9:15.  The late hour kind of surprised me.

The last few days (weeks?) I’ve had a problem in the morning with my back.  It’s weak/sore when I first get up in the morning.  I have to massage it and walk around a bit before it starts feeling normal.  I think it’s because while I usually fall asleep on my side I wake up on my back – probably meaning that I spend the night on my back.  I wonder if my bed is too soft or too hard.

I left the apt at 10:40.  I noticed the elevator was on the 8^th floor and usually I push the button and I have enough time to walk to the other side of the hallway and take a quick peak on the other side of the building.  This time the elevator was already coming down. 
When the door opened a young girl was standing there with a full sized Boxer.  He didn’t appear aggressive but still he was a little scary.  I hesitated getting in and she said “no es bravo” which I guess means he isn’t dangerous.  I got in but let them exit first in the parking garage.

Since we are further north now my goal today was to see how far I could walk in 30 minutes.  I saw a sign outside Otra Parte so I stopped to read it.  I understand it was their holiday hours and that they would be closing each day at 5pm until January 15^th.

I walked past Teresaria High School, Papa John’s Pizza, the exercise class outside Euro, Carulla, new chamber of commerce building, Dian office, Jeno’s Pizza, the Xerox building and at the 30 minute mark I was across the street from the grotto with the religious thingy in the back.

Back at the apt I grabbed one of my oatmeal cookies and took it downstairs to our portero (guard/doorman).  His name is Reynaldo.

Teresa asked me “when does summer begin in the US?”  I told her officially it starts June 21^st.  Her reaction was like OMG.  I told her “but spring starts March 21^st”.  That news didn’t appear to mollify her any.

Teresa informed me that last night Laura was dancing until 4am.  The girls here REALLY like to dance.

In the afternoon I watched the Chargers defeat the Ravens 23-17.

At 4:30 I settled down with a bag of ACTII microwave popcorn and my last root beer to watch the Bears vs Eagles game.

The Slingbox froze on me once and had to be restarted but the Bears were ahead 6-3 at the half.  A storm rolled through right at the beginning of the 3^rd quarter and I switched between the Slingbox and Direct TV.  Finally, I gave up on the Slingbox and just watched in on Direct TV with the Spanish play by play and commentary.  My Bears lost 16-15 in the waning seconds on a missed field goal.  It’s probably too dramatic to say I’m in mourning but I’m definitely in shock that our season is over.

Still in shock.

Still in shock.

Still in shock.

Joke of the day

A man goes to a pet store to buy himself an exotic bird. 

He tells the clerk, “You know I’ve had a number of pet birds in my life and now I’m looking for something really special.  Have anything I might like?”

“Yessir, I do.  I have a South American parrot rumored to have a vocabulary of 400 words.  He can talk about the weather, about sports, and about politics.  But I might add he is very expensive.”

“Well, he sounds just perfect.  Why don’t you bring him out here.”

The clerk goes into the back room and brings out an exquisite green bird with bright feathers and a dark, golden beak.  He sets the bird on a perch and excuses himself to take care of another customer in another part of the shop.

The man looks at the bird and starts talking to it in the usual way, “Pretty bird, pretty bird, Polly want a cracker?”

The bird replies in such beautiful English the man can hardly believe his ears.  They have a conversation about the recent rain, they talk about the latest bills in Congress, and even talk about the latest Super Bowl.  The man is dumbfounded.

“I’ll take him”, the man calls out to the clerk, “I’ll take him home with me today.”

“Very good, sir,” says the clerk.  They conclude the transaction and the man walks out with the parrot on his shoulder.

As soon as they get to the man’s home, the bird goes into a loud tirade of profanity.  One four-letter word after another.  On and on without end.  The man can’t believe it.

“Look, bird, you didn’t do any of this in the shop.  I have guests coming over tonight.  Don’t you embarrass me with this kind of language.”

The bird goes on and on with the profane cursing.

The man gets fed up and throws the parrot into the freezer.  That will quiet him down, thinks the man.

Sure enough, within a minute or two, the bird has gone completely silent.  The man opens the freezer and the bird takes a deep bow.  “Forgive me sir, I will never talk like that again.  I just do not know what got into me.”

The man is satisfied and motions for the bird to perch on his shoulder and the man goes about his business.

A few minutes later the bird leans over and in his ear asks quietly, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Uh, what exactly did the chicken do wrong?”