Thursday, November 14, 2019

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, got up several times during the night, finally waking/getting up at 7:45.  Teresa was already up and ready to head out for an early gym workout.

It’s only 65 degrees this morning; it’s usually closer to 70 degrees.

But she didn’t leave until 9am and I left a few minutes later.

The traffic lights were out at the crosswalk to Viva Envigado but they had 2 “cops” directing traffic.  It was only 9:30 so the shops weren’t open so I had a café con leche in Hacia Una Vez while checking my emails.

Just after 10am I went upstairs to Dollar City where I bought a package of 2 White Out containers for 4mil.

I went back downstairs to Todo Fresa where I ordered a café con leche and worked on my Mate-in-2 puzzles.

Just after 11:30 I went into Exito looking for pan de maiz to use for making garlic bread.  I ran into William, his Colombian wife, and teenage daughter who are here 6 months and the other 6 months in Orlando, Florida.  I finally asked a girl for help and she showed me where the fresh baked loaves were.  I also picked up a package of granola.

I was back at the apt by 12:15.  The temperature is only 76 degrees.  I love it!

For lunch Teresa made spaghetti ala Juanita and I made garlic bread using the garlic spread I bought some time ago at Pricesmart.

I was watching the Today show when a message appeared on the bottom of the screen.  I pointed it out to Teresa and I think it’s a warning to pay our bill.  Again, I have no idea how much to pay since we didn’t receive a bill.

At 1:15 I heard a little thunder.

Teresa called Direct TV and I understand our bill is the same as amount as last month.

At 1:30 I saw some lightning but still no rain.

At 2:30 the temperature had dropped to 70 degrees but still no rain.

I left the apt at 3:45 and walked to Otra Parte.  When I arrived I found all the tables in use, mostly for some type of arts & crafts project.

Juan Castro arrived just after 4pm and eventually he got someone working to open up a folding table for us.  He inquired as to how my homework is coming, tested me on some mate in 3 puzzles which I solved pretty quickly, gave me some more ideas behind with or against an isolated pawn, tested me on some endgame basics and we went over my games against Jose.  Juan told me that there will be a speed tournament on November 23^rd at Comfama in Medellin starting at 1pm that I might be interested in.  He showed me chess boards with wooden pieces he sells.  I noticed it said Moscow on the side of the board.  H said he’s going to be playing in an open tournament next January in Moscow.  Cool!  And he gave me more homework.  Yikes!

I walked to Parva and had a café con leche.  Forty five minutes later Teresa finally called and told me to take my time.

At 7:45 they started closing the café so I packed up my things and left.  I stopped at Exito on my way back to the apt and picked up 2 bags of milk and a bag of apples.

I watched some Thursday Night Football – how exciting, the 3-6 Browns vs the 5-4 Steelers.

9,152 steps today.

Joke of the day

A new manager spends a week at his new office with the manager he is replacing. On the last day the departing manager tells him, "I left three numbered envelopes in the desk drawer. Open an envelope if you encounter a crisis you can't solve."

Three months down the track there is major drama, everything goes wrong - the usual stuff - and the manager feels very threatened by it all. 

He remembers the parting words of his predecessor and opens the first envelope. The message inside says "Blame your predecessor!" He does this and gets off the hook. 

About half a year later, the company is experiencing a dip in sales, combined with serious product problems. The manager quickly opens the second envelope. The message read, "Reorganize!" This he does, and the company quickly rebounds. 

Three months later, at his next crisis, he opens the third envelope. The message inside says "Prepare three envelopes."