Saturday, February 27, 2021

 

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, fell asleep quickly, got up twice during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:15.

Teresa left early for eps and a gym class.

I lost to nejcik lowering my rating 16 points to 1450.

I left the apt at 9:30 and had coffee at Parva. About 10:30 my cellphone stopped working correctly. I would enter my pin but just got a dimmed screen without seeing the pin entry numbers. I couldn’t restart it. I removed the protective cover but couldn’t figure out how to remove the back to get to the battery. (I thought I could remove it and then it would restart correctly.) I returned to the apt, plugged it into the charger and after a few minutes I was able to restart it and everything was back to normal.

Teresa called me about 11:15 to discuss lunch plans. Being with her mother they didn’t want to walk all the way here to La Buena Mesa. We decided to meet at Wilson’s restaurant between 12:30 and 1pm but she suggested I first pick up a cake from Pepo’s Cake that we can all share.

I left the apt just after noon and walked to Pepo’s Cake. There was a line of 9 ahead of me but it was my turn after only about 5 minutes. I bought a medium strawberry cake for 16mil and walked to Bocados Bar where I had a nice lunch with Teresa and MT. A muchacho came by begging for food so we bought him lunch. After, I went to Viva Envigado where I had coffee at Santa Leña. I walked back to the apt and when I arrived I saw a muchacho delivering a clothes dryer he had strapped to the back of his motorcycle. I understand here in Colombia you can rent them by the hour.

 

The US has 28,423,805 ð 28,462,646 ð 28,542,937 coronavirus cases with 507,800+ ð 509,000+ ð 511,300+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 2,241,225 ð 2,244,792 ð 2,248,135 cases with 59,396 ð 59,518 ð 59,660 deaths. Medellin has 192,949 ð 193,245 ð 193,506 cases, an increase of 261 from February 26^th to 27^th. Envigado has a total of 17,374 cases, an increase of 28 from February 26^th to 27^th.

Joke of the day

A Doctor Overhears a patient being rude to the staff. After some time passes where the patient, an older gentleman, was yelling and cursing at them, the patient enters the doctor's office.

He immediately complains to the doctor about a cold he has. The doctor simply asks for him to open his mouth. The patient does so irritably. 

The doctor puts in the thermometer and asked the patient to hold it in his mouth for a minute. 

After a few minutes of checking the patient the doctor confirms that he does have a serious cold and recommends medicine and bed rest.

The patient immediately begins once again to complain, this time about the doctor himself. He shoots a steady stream of profanity at the doctor for a few minutes and then takes his leave.

A nurse walks in checking on the doctor to see if he is okay to find him smiling and happy as ever. The nurse becomes confused and asks: "Why are you so happy doctor? That man was a real asshole if you'll pardon me."

The doctor smiles: "I know, that's why I used the correct thermometer."

Friday, February 26, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, woke up just before 5am and got up at 6am.

A blog reader from the Dallas area informed me he got 2 weeks behind on reading my blog due to the polar vortex and computer issues (but he’s caught up now).

Marcos said he had sore knees so I went for my walk alone. I left earlier than usual – 7:30. At the tail end I stopped and looked into Mundo Huevo but didn’t see any small bottles of pickle relish, only the Vlasic gallon jug I saw before. Outside San Marcos church a woman asked me if I knew were San Mateo church was. No, I didn’t but later when I checked I saw it was about 6 blocks away in La Mesa. As I returned to the apt at 8:30 Teresa was just leaving. She told me she will call me around noon to meet her in Santafe mall and we’ll have lunch and exchange some clothes at Falabella.

After my cooldown and shower Teresa called me and asked me to put 69,900 pesos in the gym account as her annual maintenance fee is due.

Since it was getting to be late in the morning and the weather had been warming up I put on shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt.

I walked to the mall, withdrew some cash from an ATM then had to wait almost an hour to see a cashier. (They had a new system: instead of printing out your number you scan a QR code and it shows up on your phone. I ended up misplacing it on my phone but thankfully remembered the number.)

Teresa called me and asked me to meet her outside Zara between 12:30 and 1pm.

I bought a few things in Exito then had coffee in Todo Fresa. I left at 12:15, took a taxi to the apt, dropped off some things then took another taxi to Santafe mall arriving at 12:55.

Teresa found a pair of sexy high heels she wanted in Zara for about $50. I asked her where she’s going to wear them since we never go out. She said I need to invite her somewhere so we agreed to celebrate International Women’s Day next weekend at Tony Roma’s in the Dann Carlton hotel.

We had lunch in J&C Delicias.

I felt a little cold in my shorts and sleeveless t-shirt due to the air conditioning in the mall.

In Falabella she found a couple t-shirts for me and a pair of leggings for her. (Sadly, my t-shirts are now XL, the lockdown without being able to go to the gym was not kind to me.)

Traffic was so heavy it took an hour for the taxi to return us to our apt. (I used to walk it in 40-minutes during ciclovia.) Last weekend they had one side of the 20^th street bridge fenced off with tarps but now it extends all the way to Sao Paolo mall. Approaching the end of our ride it funnelled down to one lane but after that we made good time.

Teresa beat me in parcheesi today 3 games to 0.

I lost to Howex and my rating is now 1466.

 

The US has 28,308,912 ð 28,423,805 ð 28,462,646 coronavirus cases with 503,400+ ð 507,800+ ð 509,000+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 2,237,542 ð 2,241,225 ð 2,244,792 cases with 59,260 ð 59,396 ð 59,518 deaths. Medellin has 192,604 ð 192,949 ð 193,245 cases, an increase of 286 from February 25^th to 26^th. Envigado has a total of 17,345 cases, an increase of 20 from February 25^th to 26^th.

 

Joke of the day

A firefighter was working on the engine outside the Station when he noticed a little girl nearby in a little red wagon with little ladders hung off the sides and a garden hose tightly coiled in the middle.

The girl was wearing a firefighter's helmet.  The wagon was being pulled by her dog and her cat.

The firefighter walked over to take a closer look.

"That sure is a nice fire truck," the firefighter said with admiration.

"Thanks," the girl replied.

The firefighter looked a little closer.  The girl had tied the wagon to her dog's collar and to the cat's testicles.

"Little partner," the firefighter said, "I don't want to tell you how to run your rig, but if you were to tie that rope around the cat's collar, I think you could go faster." The little girl replied thoughtfully, "You're probably right, but then I wouldn't have a siren."

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, slept through the night, waking/getting up at 6am.

This morning’s news mentioned that dust from the Sahara has arrived in Colombia.

I sent Vickie in West Virginia my 2020 US federal tax information.

I left the apt at 10am and walked to the mall. I had some pages printed at Auros then had coffee at Todo Fresa. At 11:30 I left, bought a few groceries at Exito and returned to the apt by taxi.

I was experiencing some internet connection issues but after rebooting my router everything was good again.

I checkmated nejcik increasing my rating 1 point to 1470.

I rescheduled my chess lesson to tomorrow because Teresa wanted to go to Santafe mall. Instead, she took a nap; sometimes her cancer drug just knocks her on her ass.

Teresa beat me in parcheesi today 3 games to 1.

We finally hit the mid 80s in the afternoon.

We tried calling the Peruvian restaurant Chiclayo multiple times to place an order but they never answered. Finally, Teresa talked to Laura and I understand she placed an order by Whatsapp. It arrived an hour later. (First time I’ve gotten a delivery by a muchacho on a skateboard.) It was delicious; nice to have something different for a change. I had the pollo saltado sin papas and Teresa had seafood risotto.

I finished reading the paperback Hannibal by Thomas Harris. I think the ending was different from the movie; I’ll have to watch it again.

The US has 28,225,918 ð 28,308,912 ð 28,423,805 coronavirus cases with 501,000+ ð 503,400+ ð 507,800+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 2,233,589 ð 2,237,542 ð 2,241,225 cases with 59,118 ð 59,260 ð 59,396 deaths. Medellin has 192,140 ð 192,604 ð 192,949 cases, an increase of 345 from February 24^th to 25^th. Envigado has a total of 17,325 cases, an increase of 21 from February 24^th to 25^th.

Joke of the day

My wife and I decided we’ll need a vacation once the world reopens. I taped a world map to the refrigerator, gave my wife a magnetic dart, and said, “Wherever it lands is our vacation spot!” Seems we’ll be spending two weeks behind the fridge.

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:45, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 2am, again at 6am, finally waking/getting up at 7:15.

I resigned my game against cwelch231 dropping my rating from 1474 to 1467.

Teresa left early for eps and after perhaps a yoga class.

I walked with Marcos and we stopped for coffee afterwards at Parva.

Teresa called me at 12:15 and invited me to join her for lunch at La Casita Parilla. I asked if she wanted to wait 30 minutes for me and she agreed. I arrived at 12:45 and she had ribs and I had the chicken breast. I guess there wasn’t enough meat on the ribs as she then ordered a chicken shish-kabob. From there she was going to get her nails done so I left her cash for lunch and walked back towards La Buena Mesa. I stopped at Mundo Huevo (egg world) where I bought a large bottle of Heinz ketchup and our usual salad dressing. They had a huge bottle of pickle relish so I asked a worker if they had a smaller bottle and he said to return on Thursday or Friday. Hmmm.

I was surprised the copy center next to Aymará wasn’t open. At Parva I had a café con leche and returned to the apt by 4pm.

Teresa returned at 5pm.

I won another quick game versus Michael and my rating is now 1469.

Today was another day where we barely broke 80 degrees.

 

The US has 28,169,463 ð 28,225,918 ð 28,308,912 coronavirus cases with 499,100+ ð 501,000+ ð 503,400+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 2,229,663 ð 2,233,589 ð 2,237,542 cases with 58,974 ð 59,118 ð 59,260 deaths. Medellin has 191,522 ð 192,140 ð 192,604 cases, an increase of 462 from February 23^rd to 24^th.  Envigado has a total of 17,304 cases, an increase of 28 from February 23^rd to 24^th.

Joke of the day

Those who get too big for their pants will be exposed in the end.

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 1am, again at 5am, finally waking/getting up at 7:15.

Last night I watched a good part of the 110-minute NASA video of the rover landing on Mars.

Teresa left at 7:45 for her gym class.

I left at 8:45 and walked to the mall. I had to wait a couple minutes for a table at Habia Una Vez as all 12 were taken. After my usual complete breakfast I made a trip to Auros where I had some pages printed and had my 1099s scanned to my USB memory stick. Back in the mall all the tables were taken at Todo Fresa so I went upstairs to Santa Leña for my café con leche. I left at 11:15, picked up some apples at Exito and returned to the apt by taxi by 11:45.

At noon it’s only 72 degrees. Brrrr!

I had a 45-minute nap before lunch.

Just came on CNN that Tiger Woods has been involved in a car accident, had to be removed with the “jaws of life” and is in moderate to critical condition in the hospital.

Another day we didn’t break 80 degrees.

I won another game against Michael increasing my rating 2 points to 1474.

Teresa said she wanted to go to Santafe mall today and check out the sales.

I beat Teresa in parcheesi today 4 games to 2.

I guess she changed her mind about going to the mall today.

 

The US has 28,121,042 ð 28,169,463 ð 28,225,918 coronavirus cases with 498,000+ ð 499,100+ ð 501,000+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 2,226,262 ð 2,229,663 ð 2,233,589 cases with 58,834 ð 58,974 ð 59,118 deaths. Medellin has 190,928 ð 191,522 ð 192,140 cases, an increase of 618 from February 22^nd to 23^rd. Envigado has a total of 17,275 cases, an increase of 18 from February 22^nd to 23^rd.

Joke of the day

I'm reading a book about anti-gravity.  I just can't put it down.

Monday, February 22, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 3:30, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

I met Marcos outside his apt complex at 8:15, handed over a couple of my old Readers Digests and we walked to Parque Envigado. We made a slight detour to a tienda naturista to learn that they open at 8:30am. I used to leave the first of the month at 9:30 to catch the other tienda naturista opening at 10am. Now I can leave earlier to start my first of the month payment errands. Yay!

I used MagicJack to call my bank to find out why I received a $153.49 ATM Adjustment Credit. They had to create a work order to investigate it and they will communicate with me via my hotmail email account.

I also asked the rep when I can expect to receive a new debit card as my present one expires soon. She said I could check back about March 15^th to see if it has been sent out. She also said she could issue me a new card now if I wish and I said “why not?”, let’s go for it.

Teresa left at 9:45 for her gym classes in the Parque Envigado Smartfit location.

I had coffee for an hour or so at Parva and picked up a bag of Fab laundry detergent on my way back to the apt.

Jose texted me that he isn’t feeling well so we won’t be playing tomorrow. Teresa has an early gym class so I still intend on having breakfast at Habia Una Vez.

Another day we barely got up to 80 degrees.

Teresa beat me in parcheesi today 4 games to 2.

Teresa wanted to order delivery from Chiclayo but they didn’t answer their phone and I couldn’t find them on any of the delivery apps.

 

The US has 28,055,472 ð 28,121,042 ð 28,169,463 coronavirus cases with 496,300+ ð 498,000+ ð 499,100+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 2,222,018 ð 2,226,262 ð 2,229,663 cases with 58,685 ð 58,834 ð 58,974 deaths. Medellin has 190,475 ð 190,928 ð 191,522 cases, an increase of 592 from February 21^st to 22^nd. Envigado has a total of 17,257 cases, an increase of 63 from February 21^st to 22^nd. New infections continued to decrease for Colombia but not for Medellin or Envigado.

Joke of the day

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me.

Sunday, February 21, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:30 at the same time some guys nearby were singing, got up once at 4am guys were still occasionally singing, fireworks went off at 4:55, finally got up at 6:45.

At 7:45 it was only 64 degrees with 100% humidity and felt like it could rain soon.

I left the apt at 8am and met Glenn and Bianca at the usual bus stop. This time we got off a block early and walked 3 blocks west to Sweet Georgia restaurant. It had lots of open space and seating inside but Glenn didn’t like that there were no tables outside so we continued on to Ganso y Castor where we had our usual breakfast. He ordered scrambled eggs and a bagel and it came with bacon instead of a bagel. (Must be his accent, Lol.) I had my usual acai berries with granola, fruit and Greek yogurt.

We shared a taxi back to Envigado and they got out at Jumbo and I went on to Viva Envigado. I had a café con leche at Todo Fresa. When I left, I bought another small bottle of antibacterial gel and 2 bags of milk before returning to the apt by taxi.

We had noticed that we could no longer order from McDonald’s using the Rappi app so I walked the 2 blocks to their restaurant. I ordered a Big Mac combo then asked a manager for help with home delivery. (I see employees in various t-shirt colors – light blue, dark blue, green, pink and grey.) She gave me a flyer that said that starting in 2021 their delivery service would be exclusively using the ifood app. I downloaded it and had difficulty getting it to accept my phone number. The manager looked at it and told me it’s in Portuguese. (No wonder I had difficulties.) She downloaded a different app and I thought everything was now set but I looked for, but couldn’t find, McDonald’s. I flagged her down again and we looked at several ifood apps. I suggested we look for one like on the brochure that looks like a smiling arrow underneath the word “ifood”. She found it, we downloaded it, and I found McDonald’s in the list. (I understand I enter my apt location the first time I order, so we’ll see.)

I walked back to the apt and Teresa soon returned about 2:45.

I won another game against Nejcik and increased my rating a point to 1472.

Another day where we barely hit 80 degrees.

Teresa beat me in parcheesi today 2 games to 0.

Another tough decision what to order for supper. I suggested Chiclayo but couldn’t find it on any of my 3 delivery apps. I googled it and found they have delivery but they close at 4pm on Sundays. Teresa finally decided she wanted a chicken sandwich from McDonald’s. I had a difficult time setting up my first order. It didn’t want to accept my debit card and I had difficulty changing it back to cash. Then it wouldn’t accept my cedula number so I used Teresa’s. Then I couldn’t figure out how to continue – the equivalent of hitting “enter”. Finally, it accepted my order and it was delivered in 15 minutes, 5 minutes earlier than estimated. I tipped the delivery boy 6 mil. It’s amazing how appreciative they are over a $2 tip.

The problem with the order was Teresa was supposed to receive a 2-patty chicken sandwich but instead it was a Signature (beef) sandwich. Sigh!

 

The US has 27,974,538 ð 28,055,472 ð 28,121,042 coronavirus cases with 494,000+ ð 496,300+ ð 498,000+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 2,217,001 ð 2,222,018 ð 2,226,262 cases with 58,511 ð 58,685 ð 58,834 deaths. Medellin has 189,939 ð 190,475 ð 190,928 cases, an increase of 451 from February 20^th to 21^st. Envigado has a total of 17,194 cases, an increase of 31 from February 20^th to 21^st.

 

Joke of the day

When chemists die, they barium.

Saturday, February 20, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, got up once at 5am, finally waking/getting up at 7:30.

I look at my checking account balance almost every morning and today I found an unexpected credit of $153.49 identified as an “ATM Adjustment Credit”. That’s a new one for me; what could that be?

We left the apt at 9am for Teresa’s 10am appointment. I was convinced we were going to the clinic in Itagui but so I was surprised when the taxi took us to the clinic across from the stadium. I wasn’t allowed in (only the patient, I guess) so I went across the street to a Bunuelos where I had a café con leche and waited for her to return.

An hour later she returned and reported that all was good. From her prescriptions I understood she has mild osteoporosis and will be taking some special Calcium and Vitamin D tablets.

We took a taxi to Unicentro mall where she checked out a few stores. I took her up to the TV Noveldades store where they had a Sumo Slicer that she saw on television. They also had some sort of thing you crack an egg into and then cook. I asked that we delay any purchase until after lunch. At J&C Delicias she had salmon and I had a Cesar salad. She looked in a couple more stores then we returned to the apt by taxi. (Traffic was quite heavy; it’s almost getting impossible to get around in Envigado by car anymore.)

Teresa took a nap (I tried but was unsuccessful) and I went to Parva for coffee. I bought a postre de guayaba for her and returned to the apt.

I beat Teresa in parcheesi today 4 games to 3. She had a 3-game lead but I won the last 4. 😊

I used Rappi to order fried chicken from Frisby.

Another day we barely made it to 80 degrees.

One of my readers wrote, “Interesting, nothing of the foibles of the current president at all here.” Very interesting; maybe if Biden was required to use Twitter…Lol.

We had a little rain in the evening.

 

The US has 27,908,420 ð 27,974,538 ð 28,055,472 coronavirus cases with 491,500+ ð 494,000+ ð 496,300+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 2,212,525 ð 2,217,001 ð 2,222,018 cases with 58,334 ð 58,511 ð 58,685 deaths. Medellin has 189,525 ð 189,939 ð 190,475 cases, an increase of 536 from February 19^th to 20^th. Envigado has a total of 17,163 cases, an increase of 36 from February 19^th to 20^th.

Joke of the day

When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.  

Friday, February 19, 2021

 Last night I went to bed at 10:30, got up once at 5am, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

I think it rained lightly throughout the night; one of the rare nights I added a light blanket to my usual sheet.

I left the apt just before 8am in 64-degree weather. Brrr! I skipped a couple of incline areas but completed my usual walking route in an hour. As I returned I ran into Teresa in the parking garage leaving for her gym class.

I left the apt at 9:45 and walked to Parva where I had a café con leche while reviewing some chess notes. The waiter brought me my coffee and a complimentary package of sugar cookies. I had one, they are pretty bland, not enough sugar and butter for a gringo’s taste. When I returned to the apt a little over an hour later I gave the remainder of the cookies to the portero.

Another cool day, only 72 degrees at 11:30am. I guess when it’s freezing in Texas it’s cold here.

Nejcik resigned our game increasing my rating to 1469.

Teresa returned at noon from her gym workout.

I had my 2-hour chess lesson with Juan Castro.

Teresa beat me in parcheesi today 4 games to 0.

Michael resigned our game and my rating is now 1471.

 

The US has 27,831,946 ð 27,908,420 ð 27,974,538 coronavirus cases with 489,100+ ð 491,500+ ð 494,000+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 2,207,701 ð 2,212,525 ð 2,217,001 cases with 58,134 ð 58,334 ð 58,511 deaths. Medellin has 189,204 ð 189,525 ð 189,939 cases, an increase of 409 from February 18^th to 19^th. Envigado has a total of 17,127 cases, an increase of 45 from February 18^th to 19^th.

Joke of the day

Did you hear about the crossed-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?