Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Despite getting up three times during the night I felt I slept pretty well.

I left the apt at 9am and arrived at the stadium right at 10am and Jose was waiting for me.

He informed me of a tournament starting next Wednesday but that’s too soon for me.  I need more practice and study first.

In our first game I had the black pieces and in the middle game I managed to fork his rook and queen with a pawn and it wasn’t long after that he resigned - a move before I was going to checkmate him.

For a change we walked to the El Chapparal steak house on Avenida 70 where I ordered their pepper steak and a mango juice.  The steak has always been good before.  I made a couple mistakes: 1) I should have told them I want my steak cooked medium well and 2) I should have asked for a baked potato instead of French fries.  One smaller piece of meat was cooked perfectly and very tasty mixed with the accompanying meat sauce and white rice but the larger piece was gristly and undercooked so I just ate what I could.

Jose informed me that he and Maria are taking a 5-week vacation to Spain, Egypt, and Greece.  Cool!

Back at the stadium, in the second game I had the white pieces and at one point I sacrificed a rook for a bishop to get an attack against his king and he soon resigned.  It’s been a long time since I’ve beaten him twice in one day.  Not sure if he’s gotten worse (probably) or I’ve gotten better (not bloody likely).

It rained very hard for about 30 minutes during our 2^nd game but by the time we finished it was down to a light drizzle.  I walked Jose to the street with my umbrella where he caught a taxi back to his apartment.

Teresa called while I was waiting for the train at the Stadium Station.  She said she’s going to take her mother to Exito.  I told her I’m going to have coffee at the mall so maybe we could meet up there.

At the mall I stopped at Habia Una Vez and had a café con leche for 3,600 pesos and Teresa soon joined me but she had to return to Exito to find her mother.  When they came back we went to Percimon where Teresa and I shared a frozen yogurt with bluberries.

Jose, my old friend from the gym, told me he saw Pet Sematary and it was very scary.  It’s playing here at 4:25 so maybe I can see it tomorrow – with or without Teresa.

Back at the apt I watched GM Simon Williams’ first video - Chapter 1 – Building a Solid Foundation.

11,310 steps today.

Joke of the day

“What’s wrong, Bubba?” asked the pastor.

“I need you to pray for my hearing,” said Bubba.

The pastor put his hands on Bubba’s ears and prayed.  When he was done, he asked, “So how’s your hearing?”

“I don’t know,” said Bubba.  “It isn’t until next Tuesday.”