Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Last night I went to bed at 11pm, got up once at 2am, finally waking/getting up at 6am.

Teresa’s having problems with her cellphone as she can’t receive Laura’s calls.  After some investigation I found: 1) Laura is calling using Whatsapp, 2) Teresa doesn’t have Whatsapp on her phone, 3) Teresa doesn’t have the Play Store app on her phone so I can’t download Whatsapp for her.

I managed to download a version of Play Store but I haven’t figured out how to sign in as yet.

Teresa said something about buying a new battery from a man in a store so once again I don’t know what’s going on.

We left the apt at 9:15 and took a taxi to Clinica Medellin in downtown Medellin.  We got in a Disney World type line for an elevator ride.  While in line Teresa asked me if I had cash to pay for the doctor’s appointment.  I told her she needs to tell me ahead of time if I need to bring more cash than just for taxis and lunch.  We got off on the 12^th floor and Teresa finally found the correct office.

There were only 6 seats, all taken, in the waiting room so I stood by the door while Teresa checked us in.  I was able to pay the 90 mil using my debit card.  Someone seemed to be taken every 5 minutes or so.  A man came out, obviously finished with his appointment, and said goodbye to everyone.  I told Teresa that a gringo considers this very unusual – a man sat with us for 10 minutes and we didn’t say a word to each other but he says “goodbye” when he leaves.  

After about 20 minutes Teresa went in and came back 5 minutes later for me.  I went into the room and a “nurse” asked me to remove my shoes and socks and stand in one spot.  She said I was 1.82 meters (6’) and she asked me if I knew how much I weigh.  I said a little less than 80 kilos and she told me 79.

I then sat in another seat and she put some liquid on my right heel and I put my food in a device.  A minute later I switched feet and she told me all is good.

We went into another office and talked to a doctor.  I understood Teresa’s bone density is a little less than desirable but she is taking calcium for that.  He said my bones were fine.

In another office another doctor took our blood pressure.  Mine was 132/76 and Teresa’s was 126/87.  He then proceded to sell us some type of special coffee creamer and tea.

Outside we took a taxi to Premium Plaza where Teresa spent quite a bit of time shopping for end of month sales.  She found a few things today in Stradivarius and Adidas.  While resting she called Chuck’s wife Darnely to ask her something.  I asked where Chuck is and Teresa said she didn’t know as Darnely is back in Cali.

About 1:30 we went to Frisby where I used my debit card to pay for lunch that we pretty much shared.

When I sat down at the table there was some type of plastic card sitting on it.  As we were finishing eating a woman came to our table and picked up the card we found.  Teresa says it’s to pay for her parking.  Her little girl said “thank you for keeping our card for us”.

While Teresa went into her last store I ducked into a sunglasses store to price a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses.  The two I remember were 465 to 495 mil, about what I paid for mine years ago back in the States.

As we were leaving I noticed they had a Dracula haunted house.  I inquired as to how much and was told 20mil.  I didn’t have that much cash with me to pay for both of us so skipped it.

We took a taxi back to the apt.

I was very tired having gotten up so early so we went to take a nap.  I must have fallen asleep in seconds and Teresa woke me up an hour later.

Laura called and talked to Teresa on my cellphone.  I understand the girls finally got their hair washed with shampoo.

Teresa told me she thought yesterday’s medical visit was a scam, only for us to buy their products.  I told her I thought it was a little of both – we got a good bone density reading and they tried to sell us their coffee creamer and tea.

I watched some of the 7^th game of the World Series, won by the Washington Nationals 6-2.

I finished reading John Donovan’s Shoot for the Moon on my Nook.

4,488 steps today.

Joke of the day

A Hawaiian woodpecker and a Californian woodpecker were arguing about which place had the toughest trees.

The Hawaiian woodpecker said Hawaii had a tree that no woodpecker could peck.

The Californian woodpecker accepted his challenge, and promptly pecked a hole in the tree with no problem.

The Hawaiian woodpecker was in awe.

The Californian woodpecker then challenged the Hawaiian woodpecker to peck a tree in California that was absolutely unpeckable.

The Hawaiian woodpecker expressed confidence he could do it, so accepted the challenge.

After flying to California, the Hawaiian woodpecker successfully pecked the tree with no problem.

So the two woodpeckers were now confused. How is it that the Californian woodpecker was able to peck the Hawaiian tree and the Hawaiian woodpecker was able to peck the Californian tree, but neither one was able to peck the tree in their own state?

After much woodpecker-pondering, they both came to the same conclusion - your pecker is always harder when you're away from home.