Saturday, August 27, 2022

Last night I took my usual pills and went to bed at 10pm. I fell asleep pretty quickly and got up once during the night. I was awakened by a noisy semi outside the old Exito at 5am waiting to back into the warehouse. After a trip to the bathroom I fell back asleep quickly finally waking at 7:45.

I was doing my Kegel exercises when I turned on my phone and saw some messages on the Chess Medellin Whatsapp group:

Amanda: Anyone up for chess in manila between 10am and 12pm?

Jeff George: You’re back! I’d play but not that early and in Laureles if possible lol.

Amanda: I’ll be back in Laureles around 2pm if you wanna play then.

Me: I’m up for a game in Manila from 10am to noon.

Amanda: Ok. I’ll message when I arrive.

Me: Where exactly? The little bookstore?

Amanda: Hija Mia nomada or Cambria. Will let you know.

+++++From here on Amanda texted me directly.+++++

Amanda: It’s Amanda, probably get down about 10:30 or 10:45 in hija Mia or Cambria.

Me: Ok. I know Hija Mia but will have to google Cambria location.

Amanda: It’s a block away a little French place. Let’s go there as you haven’t been before. I’ll send the location.

Me: Ok. Thx.

Amanda then sent me a screenshot of Cambria’s website.

Me: Ok. Thx.

Me: I’ll bring a set cause meeting someone else at 2pm in Los Molinos.

Amanda: I have a small board I’ll bring.

Me: No need. I have a tournament set.

I informed Teresa I finally found someone to play chess with this morning. When she found out it was Amanda (a “her”) she read me the riot act about the dangers of Colombian women. I told her I’m pretty sure she’s American because her English is perfect and we’ll be meeting in a public place.

Teresa left just before 9am for a couple gym classes.

I left at 9:40 and took a Didi to Cambria in Manila of Poblado for 9,500 pesos. Approaching it I realized I’d had breakfast there at least once before. The restaurant was pretty busy so I texted Amanda to that fact. She asked me to meet her at Ganso y Castor. I quickly found her, she’s from England so I guess that explains why her English was perfect. 😊 She was pretty much a beginner at chess and I easily beat her in 4 games.

I ordered a Didi to take me to Los Molinos mall. I was surprised when the driver turned off of Calle 30 but I thought maybe he knew some other way across the river. He stopped in front of a warehouse in an industrial area. I told him this isn’t Los Molinos. After some back and forth I understood Didi screwed up and organized this incorrect destination. It was complicated by the fact he wanted this trip to be close to (his) home. I told him I would give him 20mil if he would take me to Los Molinos and traffic was quite heavy.

Upstairs in the food court I ordered a chicken wrap from Q-Bano and as I was walking away I ran into Dario.

The place was very crowded but we found a table and started a game. I had the White pieces and the game was very close until deep in the middle game when I diverted his rook then pinned his Queen against his King. He resigned and asked for a 2^nd game. That one took 2 ½ hours and I only had two hours until my football game so I declined. I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.

I walked down to Avenida 80 and traffic was heavy. I luckily crossed quickly and waited a minute to see if the Circular Sur bus heading this way was full. Unfortunately, another bus pulled alongside it and I figured I wouldn’t be able to see the Circular Sur bus anyway. I walked a block to the Metro Plus and there was a 10-minute wait for the next bus. It was very crowded but not cattle car full. It was only 5 stops or so to the end of the line where I walked to the regular metro line. I got off at the Ayura station and got on a metro bus that was cattle car full. I noticed an advertisement for an app called Muuf that covers the bus routes of Envigado. Luckily with the new bridges that were built it was a short trip (distance wise) but a warm one to my stop (the first).

I was back at the apt by 5pm. Teresa returned at 5:15. A downpour started at 5:40.

I downloaded the Muuf app but the final setup is all in Spanish so I’ll wait until my brother arrives next to help me with it.

At the end of the first quarter of the Bears vs Browns game the power went out. Luckily, it came back on 5 minutes later. I missed their second touchdown though.

I just finished watching the first half of the Bears vs Browns preseason game. Their 1^st teams played (most) of the first half and the Bears are ahead 21-6. Keep in mind the Bears are predicted by multiple NFL sources (ESPN) to be the worst team in the NFL this year. They sure made the Browns look like the Cleveland Clowns so far tonight. (Yeah, I know you’re reading this Arlene. Lol.) Oh, and the Browns received the opening kickoff. Btw, Justin Fields 1^st half statistics were 14 for 16 (87.5%), 156 yards, 3 TDs, a passer rating of 146.9, 2 runs for 11 yards, and wasn’t sacked. Now that’s the performance we’ve been waiting for.

And those Cleveland ABC announcers, don’t they have something better to discuss than moustaches? And nothing like embarrassing a player live over the word “acclimate”. And I’ve never seen such stupid commercials.

The final was Bears 21, Browns 20.

My biggest concern for the Bears is their lack of WR depth. I’m betting they pick up someone after next Tuesday’s mandatory league-wide cutdown.

 

Funny pix of the day