Saturday, January 11, 2020

Last night I took half a Zopiclona with 1 Trazadone and went to bed at 10:45.  I woke up at 4am from the sound of the curtain rattling because the fan was blowing on it.  Apparently the vibration of the fan caused it to “walk” a little clockwise.  I moved it back and turned the volume down.  Forty five minutes later I was still awake so I took the other half of the Zopiclona and was soon back asleep.  I finally woke/got up at 7:30.

I made a quick trip to Exito and picked up some laundry supplies and a bag of milk.

I left the apt at 9:30 and while I was in the elevator Laura called asking for my Citibank account number.  I returned to the apt, booted up my laptop and sent her the info.  I walked up to Avenida Poblado and had to wait 5 minutes for a bus.

I was sitting all the way in the back of the bus and at Parque Poblado I pressed the button to get off and an attractive woman a couple rows away turned and looked at me and said “hola”.  I said “hola” and she said “que tal?” which I understand to mean like “how is everything?” so I replied “estoy bien” and got off the bus.  I have no idea who she was but she did look slightly familiar.  I stopped first at the copy center who had a new guy working there so it took about 20 minutes for him to get everything printed correctly.  I went upstairs to Envios Market but no one was there.  I took a seat on a facing bench and Nobraskja arrived 5 minutes later.  She gave me a couple envelopes: one an ad for New in Chess magazine and the other was my 2019 pension information.  She also gave me a package the size of an LP album that said Shuttlefly on the outside.  I opened it and it was a photo album of my daughter’s visit.  Cool.  I paid a 10mil delivery fee and walked outside.  Two little robot-like boxes passed in front of me.  They were about 2 feet long, a foot wide and a foot high with a sign on the side that said “Download the KiwiBot app”.  I quickly caught a bus back to the apt and I aborted my plans to find the tienda naturista and to have coffee at Parva.  Back at the apt Teresa and I removed the shrink wrap from the album and we enjoyed looking at Jeannie’s photos.  Hopefully she will return again this year.

I googled Citibank in Laura’s town and it appears they have no branch offices.  Laura is probably going to have to send the cash to my brother and he can use it to defer expenses or he can deposit it into my Citibank account.

I left the apt at 1:45 and arrived at the Otra Parte library 5 minutes early.  I texted Juan Carlos I was there and he arrived 5 minutes late.  I gave him my December Chess Life magazine and the Mate in 2 puzzles I’ve completed thus far.  He gave me a couple new Mate in 2 puzzles to solve and a couple of Mate in 3 puzzles.  He demonstrated how the 2^nd move of my The London System is weak.  It appears I should transpose my 2^nd and 3^rd moves.  It’s amazing how he can see things so quickly and after going through a variation he can set the position up how it looked 10-15 moves earlier.  He believes there will be a tournament the weekend of January 24^th.  I would like to play in that one to see how my play has improved.  He said he will leave a couple of Mate in 3 puzzles for me with the portero.  He asked me what porteria is in English and I told him I’m not sure, my best guess is guardhouse.  I learned that the Spanish equivalent for “take or capture” is “comer” which means to eat.

After the lesson I walked outside and saw that a number of trees lining Avenida Poblado have been cut down.  Sad!  I walked to Parva and solved another set of 16 chess puzzles while enjoying a café con leche.

I returned to the apt about 5:30 and as soon as I walked inside I asked Teresa if we would be staying in the apt tonight and she said yes.  I changed clothes and not an hour later we talked about where to order dinner.  She finally settled on Mu so I had to change clothes, she ordered a taxi, I waited in the porteria for 10 minutes for it to arrive, and I picked up an order at the restaurant.  I returned just before 7pm and the portero gave me our epm bill for the month.  When I walked into the apt Teresa asked me how I returned so quickly.  Well, traffic was good.

I watched some of the Ravens vs Titans game.  What’s gotten into those Titans?

8,905 steps today.

Joke of the day

One Sunday morning Michael burst into the living room and said, "Dad! Mom! I have some great news for you! I am getting married to the most beautiful girl in town. She lives a block away and her name is Susan.”

After dinner, Michael's dad took him aside, "Son, I have to talk to you. Look at your mother, Michael. She and I have been married 30 years, she's a wonderful wife and mother, but, she has never offered much excitement in the bedroom, so I used to fool around with women a lot. I'm afraid Susan is the result of one such affair. She is actually your half-sister, and I'm afraid you can't marry her." 

Michael was brokenhearted but he broke up with Susan the next day.

After eight months he eventually started dating girls again. A year later he came home and proudly announced, "Diane said yes! We're getting married in June." Again his father insisted on another private conversation and broke the sad news. "Diane is your half-sister too, Michael. I'm awfully sorry about this."

Michael was livid! He broke up with Diane that same day, leaving her in tears. He finally decided to go to his mother with the news his father had shared and told her about his father's secret.

"Dad has done so much harm. I guess I'm never going to get married," he complained. "Every time I fall in love, dad tells me the girl is my half-sister." 

"Oh," his mother shook her head, "What are you listening to him for? He's not even your real father.”