Tuesday, January 30, 2024

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

As I walked out of the parking garage I was surprised to see the ground was wet. When did it rain and I missed it?

It’s obvious now with the Didi app you bid for a ride. My ride to Unicentro mall cost me 11,300 pesos.

Troyclough resigned our game increasing my rating to 1602.

I arrived at Parmessano a couple minutes late but Jose arrived about 10 minutes later.

We each had their French toast with a latte while discussing this year’s chess tournaments. My share of the check was 33,000 pesos.

About 9am we moved to the food court.

I had the Black pieces in the first game and he blundered his queen on the 21^st move and resigned.

I had the White pieces in the second game and I resigned on the 53^rd move.

It was 2pm by the time we finished reviewing the last game so I went 5 hours without a trip to the restroom. 😊

I had J&C’s Cesar salad with chicken for 32,900 pesos.

My first thought was the plate was huge but it had no depth to it.

I stopped at Banco Caja Social and with my Capital One Master Card I received the message, “Transaction declined. Unable to process” and with my USAA Visa card I received the message, “Transaction declined. Invalid transaction or account.”

My ride back to the apt cost 15,000 pesos.

Teresa informed me that they guy hasn’t come yet to fix the hot water heater.

She called him and he told her he first has to talk to the owner to see if he will pay for the repairs but he doesn’t answer his phone. ☹

I watched a couple more episodes of Designated Survivor.

 

CREEPY THINGS

Monday, January 29, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at just after 7am.

I completed my Smartfit workout from 8:45 to 9:45. As I was nearing the finish of my workout Patrick from Dallas said “hi”. His whole family, it sounded like, had Covid and he was laid up for a couple months. When I was on my next to last machine the 75-year-old man I had mentioned earlier came in and we talked a little bit (Spanish & English) about yesterday’s football games and the Superbowl. I learned a new Spanish word, candado means padlock.

By 10:15 I was in Los Porteños having my latte. I left at 11:30 and returned to the apt.

As expected, lunch was salad with pieces of leftover chicken breast.

I left the apt at 2:15 and had a latte and a chocolate chip cookie with nuts in Eduardo Madrid bakery.

A man came in and bought what looked like pretzels but when I asked he said they were “palitos de canela”. Hmm, I wonder if I would like cinnamon sticks. Teresa called and asked where I was. When I told her she asked me to buy her a slice of carrot cake before I left and a pair of kitchen gloves in Ara on my way back to the apt. I did and was back at the apt by 5:30.

Natalia notified me that starting February my health insurance is going up to 203,000 pesos ($52).

I watched a couple more episodes of Designated Survivor.

 

CREEPY THINGS

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once just before 5am, waking/getting up at 7:15.

Teresa informed me there’s a special mass in Parque Poblado this morning at 9am. She mentioned walking and since it’s 8am now she’d have to leave now. She said she’ll take the bus.

I left at 8:30 and walked to Sao Paolo where I found Glenn with Bianca waiting for me in Olivenza. He had a couple of doctor’s appointment this past week. One was for his eyes and the doctor wants him to return in a year. Well, that’s Colombian health insurance for you.

I bet him that my Capital One Master Card wouldn’t work at the Scotia Bank Copatria ATM but my USAA Visa card would. I went into Carulla and tried both. The Master Card got rejected almost immediately but the Visa card allowed me to get as far as declining the costly conversion before being “rejected temporarily”. I quizzed him about his knowledge about the Cloud. To be continued when my brother arrives.

Today I had a cinnamon roll with a latte then later calentao with scrambled eggs and another latte. Each of our check’s came to 35,500 pesos ($9) and we each left an extra 2mil tip.

I left at 11:15 and made a stop in Ara for tomatoes, onion, and a package of sugar before returning to the apt.

It appears I have the following Cloud space available at no cost:

·     MS OneDrive – 5GB

·     Google Cloud – 15GB

·     ChessBase 16 Cloud – 20MB (supposedly enough for 10,000 games)

Chess.com reported that last year I played 185 games, with 97 wins (52.5%), 24 draws (12.9%), and 64 losses (34.6%).

For lunch I ordered 8 pieces of fried chicken (with 8 arepas ☹) from Frisby for 66mil. The order arrived quickly from the Villa Grande location (I paid 4mil extra for priority delivery and I tipped the delivery guy 3mil) but it was still only semi warm.

I watched the Chiefs defeat the Ravens 17-10.

I lost a game to Troyclough in 61 moves, lowering my rating to 1597. I need to change up my opening a little.

I watched the Detroit Lions take the lead at halftime 24-7 then the San Francisco 49ers roared back in the second half to win 34-31.

 

CREEPY THINGS

Saturday, January 27, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, woke up at 6am and got up at 6:30.

I lost all my notes from Friday when I got a data error while trying to save it. ☹

I was planning on going to Viva Envigado today, not for any particular reason. Teresa informed me she wanted to go to Mayorista and buy fresh fish and fresh vegetables. I asked when she wanted to leave and she said about 10am.

After breakfast I laid back down in bed and slept from about 7:45 to 8:45.

At 9:15 Teresa talked to someone on the phone then announced we’ll go to Mayorista another day and this afternoon she’s going to visit Nydia in Sabaneta as she’s returning to the US 6am tomorrow.

Now it’s 9:30 and I’m recreating my blog post for yesterday.

My chess databases take up a lot of space on my C: and D: drives. My ChessBase account includes 20MB of cloud space so I’m trying to figure out how to upload my existing databases to their cloud. Hopefully, that would allow me to offload them from my C: and D: drives and save me space. I see that the ChessBase cloud is using my OneDrive space so I’m going to have to get my photos off that before I continue. That means further progress on this is on hold until my brother arrives with my new external hard drive.

For lunch I finished the ribs and fries.

At 3:40 we had a few raindrops, then nothing, then 5 minutes later we had a downpour, but it only lasted for 15 minutes or so. First rain in months?

There is scaffolding set up outside Ara as workers are doing something near the roofline.

Teresa called Gloria to see if the patacones place is open; not only is it not open but for some reason believes it’s closed permanently.

I have a game in progress with Mr_Blamo (aka Michael) who’s back in Prague.

I finished season 1 of Designated Survivor.

 

CREEPY THINGS

 

Friday, January 26, 2024

I had to reconstruct this day because I couldn’t save the Word file due to a “no space” error.

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, finally getting up at 6:30.

Teresa is going to go to the gym, then meet up with a girlfriend then have her nails done.

I completed my workout in Smartfit between 8:15 and 9:15.

I had a latte in Los Porteños from 9:45 to 11am.

I bought 2 bags of milk in the corner store on my way back to the apt.

Teresa called me at 1pm to confirm I’m to have leftover ribs for lunch. After lunch I still have 2 ribs and a few fries for another day.

About 2:30 I went to Otra Parte but the patio still wasn’t open so I had a latte in the café. I heard English at 2 different tables and one girl had the book “Barbarians at the Gate” at her elbow so I googled it then added it to my reading list.

According to The Weather Channel we’re supposed to have rain (it never materialized) at 4:45. I left at 4:15 and returned to the apt.

Teresa still hadn’t returned.

Just before 6pm I got hungry so I had a bowl of cereal. No sooner had I finished it but Teresa called me suggesting we go for pizza with her mom. After I explained she said they’ll go to La Estacion for empanada.

I watched a couple more episodes of Designated Survivor.

Teresa returned at 8pm.

 

CREEPY THINGS

Thursday, January 25, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 5am, couldn’t fall back asleep, finally getting up at 5:30.

I see Poor Things (8.4) is playing today at 12:30, 3:30, 6:30, and 9:40.

I was lying on the recliner when Teresa got up at 6:30, informed me she had a bad night’s sleep and was returning to bed. Next thing I know she wakes me up and I see it’s just after 8am and she says she’s not going to make the gym so she makes me breakfast.

I left at 9am and walked to the $efecty office where the lady told me Direct TV says I owe 319,100 pesos. At her suggestion I handed her my phone and she took this photo,

I took back my cash and thanked her.

I walked across the street and in 2 minutes I was on an Envigado bus. The fare has increased from 2,850 pesos to 3,100 pesos.

I got off at Vivi Envigado, recycled a few items then went upstairs to the banking area. I tried Scotiabank, Banco de Bogota and Red Aval and only the latter allowed me to withdraw 610,000 pesos for a 20,000-peso ATM fee.

Downstairs I had a latte in Urbania while reviewing my endgame course. I left at 11am because I needed to use the restroom. In Exito I bought decaf coffee, a large carton of eggs in the brand we prefer, and a large package of toilet paper.

Teresa is going to meet up with a girlfriend this afternoon so she told me to go to the movie alone.

I told Teresa about my Direct TV problem, she called them then explained that it’s 159,400 pesos a month, payable on the 1^st (or before). The 319,100 pesos is for January and February.

 

CRAZY SIGNS

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

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

I completed my Smartfit workout from 8am to 9am. Today I had pain on my right knee on the first rep of the Leg Extension exercise. I have to remember to do the first one slowly, after that I seem to have no problem. Now at the new treadmill speed of 6.0km/hr I build up quite a sweat.

By 9:30 I was in Los Porteños having my usual latte. I briefly met a couple from Fort Lauderdale enjoying their last hour before their flight back to Florida. They expect to return in 4-5 months and I suggested several activities when they return.

I left at 11am and printed a couple pages of test results for Teresa’s 2pm doctor’s appointment today before returning to the apt.

Just before noon Teresa and I took a Didi to Arkadia mall for 11,800 pesos. Up on the 3^rd floor we had lunch in Crepes & Waffles for 68,350 pesos ($17.50).

I thought we were going next door to Clinica Las Americas but the Auna location is just on the other side of the floor. At 1:30 Teresa went inside and I went 100’ away to Starbucks for a latte. The clerk was waiting for payment for an order from a kid and I watched the parents dump out their change to pay for it. After a minute I took one of their little tables to continue watching the process. After sitting there baking for a minute (the roof is open negating any air conditioning) I asked myself why do I want coffee anyway? I went across the hall to Percimon where I had chocolate and vanilla ice cream mixed with crushed peanuts.

Teresa came out at 2:20 and I understand all is good but she has to return in October for more tests.

She had a cup of Greek yogurt with coconut and blueberries. She told me her great idea; next time we go to Europe she wants to stop after 5 hours and stay in a hotel and we’ll continue on the rest of the way the next day. I tried to explain to her that 5 hours would put us somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

She stopped in Medipiel to check on the price of something then in H&M she bought a dress suitable for hot weather (Cartagena, Punta Cana) for 115,200 pesos ($29).

We left at 4pm and returned to the apt by taxi by 4:30 for 16,000 pesos.

Marcos texted me he has a 9:30 doctor’s appointment tomorrow so he can’t meet for coffee. He suggested meeting Friday morning but I reminded him I have my gym workout at that time so we just cancelled for this week.

Teresa wanted to go for ribs at Mu tonight then she changed her mind and we had them delivered. They arrived pretty quickly, 35-40 minutes. Teresa had 1 rib and liked it, I had 1 and it was chewy and should have been cooked more.

Teresa reminded me she’s got early gym class tomorrow so I’ll be on my own for breakfast.

 

CRAZY SIGNS

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, again at 5am, finally waking/getting up just before my alarm at 6:30.

The ride sharing app Didi changed their interface. Now it’s more like InDrive where you raise the fare to encourage drivers to choose you.

Traffic was a little heavier than usual today and cost 11,500 pesos and I arrived 15 minutes late at Unicentro mall. Today we tried a new place, for us, Santa Leña. I had their 3 slices of French toast with strawberry and banana slices and 2 lattes.

Jose had some type of egg dish and a couple café con leches. Only problem with my order – it was with honey instead of maple syrup, which is a common substitution here.

I showed Jose my printout of ATM fees and he believes each bank can charge whatever currency exchange rate they want. I don’t know about that.

I showed him a printout of this year’s chess tournaments and I learned “semilleros” is “youngsters” so I can cross those off my list. That gets me down to 8 tournaments and I can probably winnow that down a little more. I asked him about time controls since we try to mimic tournament play with our 1 hour per game + 30 seconds per move. He believes the time controls have shortened maybe to 45 minutes + 30 seconds. He’s going to check and see what they use at the next tournament.

In our first game we were even when I lost on time on the 33^rd move.

In the second game I blundered on the 17^th move and, in the end, resigned on the 28^th move. ☹

I had a burger combo calle the Corral at El Corral for 26,900 pesos ($6.80).

I bought eggs and a 9V battery in Exito and had a Didi return me to the apt for 15,100 pesos, plus a 1,500 pesos tip, still less than I would pay a taxi.

I won a game against Troyclough increasing my rating 3 points to 1607.

I watched a couple more episodes of Designated Survivor.

Oh great, now the GFI in the kitchen doesn’t work. And it’s the only one on the wall. ☹ Correction: It works, its just I reset it but expected the little light to come on but never tested it by trying an appliance. Later Teresa plugged in the toaster and it’s working fine. 😊

I looked on Cine Colombia for what’s coming soon and I think Poor Things (8.4) is going to open this week.

I finished reading Julie Clark’s novel The Last Flight.

 

CRAZY SIGNS

Monday, January 22, 2024

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

Teresa is celebrating because I understand she won’t have to take her chemotherapy pill any longer. 😊

If it seems like I missed reporting on something yesterday before watching football, you’re right. I started planning for our vacation to Punta Cana. I tried to convince Teresa to only go for 1 week at an all-inclusive resort but she wants 2 weeks. Most resorts have a live show every night but it's repeated every week so if you stay at the same resort you’ll see the same show twice. My solution is to stay in one resort for a week then move to another for the 2^nd week. I started looking at resorts on Bavaro beach but quickly realized I had no place to record my notes. I added a note to my cellphone to buy a small notebook. A few minutes later I remembered I have a notebook next to my bed so I started using that. I settled on 3 initial 4* hotels and 3 5* hotels. For flights I see an airline called Wingo but it being low cost and low rated it might be better to choose another. Initially I was looking at Monday to Monday but I think I’m going to need to expand that to give me better flight times. We’ll see. TBC.

I completed my workout today from 8:30 to 9:30. Today I increased the following machines by 5#: Leg Extension, Leg Curl, and Abdominal Crunch and fortunately, no knee pain. I increased my treadmill speed from 5.5 to 6.0km/hour; now it’s a fast walk and if I go any faster I’m afraid I’ll be running.

I had a latte in Los Porteños until 10:45. I stopped at the little copy center and printed a couple things. I picked up 2 bags of milk at the small store on my way back to the apt.

I realized I missed my anniversary. Last Saturday, the 20^th, was my 11^th year here in Colombia.

Well, I see that Avianca has nonstop flights to Punta Cana everyday 8am-11:30am with return flights from 12:40pm-2:10pm for about $730 (for 2 roundtrip).

I also chose VIK Arena Blanca resort (7.7) for $1181 for our first week of April 8^th to the 15^th and Grand Bavaro Princess (8.3) for $1946 for our second week of the 15^th to the 22^nd.

I explained the flights to Teresa and showed her the hotels but she’s afraid of another Covid occurrence and wants to wait until the end of February or early March to make the reservations. ☹

I was scrolling through possible movies on Netflix when I stumbled on the preview for Designated Survivor (7.4) and got sucked in, AGAIN, and watched the first few episodes.

 

CRAZY SIGNS

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, slept through the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:am.

I was glad to see the Packers lost to the 49ers last night 24-21 with Jordan Love having 2 interceptions. When I went to bed it was halftime with the 49ers having 7 points and the Packers 6.

I was walking to the bathroom when I saw a cockroach on the door trim right at eye height. I know Teresa has a fly swatter somewhere but I looked all around the kitchen but couldn’t find it. I took one of my old magazines and swatted it and it fell to the floor and I squashed it a little more with my food. (That’s what happens when you don’t let the exterminator into your apt, the cockroaches just move to those apts that aren’t fumigated.)

I left the apt about 8:15. About halfway to Sao Paolo I noticed a group of cub scouts and girl scouts across 6 lanes of traffic. I flashed them the cub scout sign and a few took notice and pointed to me and one returned the sign. 😊

In Sao Paolo Glenn arrived about 5 minutes after me. We discussed the ATMs and their fees ad nauseum. One thing I learned is if you use the drive-up Davivienda ATM across the street it gives all 100s while the walkup gives 50s. He reminded me that the TV series Masters of the Air starts January 26^th.

I won a knight against Troyclough and he resigned increasing my rating to 1603. 😊 Now let’s see if I can keep it above 1600.

I had a latte with an almond croissant and calentao with scrambled eggs and another latte for 40mil, including a generous tip.

My brother sent me a photo of the 3 things I ordered on Amazon that have arrived.

I went across the street to a BBVA ATM where I found this sign although this is what the machine states

I was denied withdrawing 2,100,000 pesos but it accepted 300mil for a 22,500-peso Atm fee. 

I walked back to the apt.

I had lentil soup for lunch and a little later the leftover ribs.

I watched the Lions defeat the Buccaneers 31-23 and then the Chiefs edge the Bils 27-24. Towards the end of the game I tried only to look up at the TV screen during the important moments. Then I read in my book for 30 minutes before going to bed.

 

CRAZY SIGNS

Saturday, January 20, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once about 1:30am, woke up but didn’t get up at 5:30, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

A reader asked about why Teresa would have to remove her acrylic nails for her colonoscopy procedure. I believe it’s for the anesthesiologist because if something goes wrong and she starts turning blue the first sign appears in the extremities, aka the fingernails and toenails.

Teresa made a few phone calls and finally decided to cancel her Monday appointment.

At 8:30 I started the process of ordering a Didi. The car was only 2 minutes away and I arrived at my haircut appointment by 8:50. Daniel recommended a pizza place in the San Jose barrio of Envigado called Trapani. He said it’s braised pizza so I don’t know how that would work. (Later I googled it and came up with an address of Carrera 30 Calle 39B Sur-10 in Envigado.) I got my usual haircut for 45mil and tipped Daniel 5mil.

My next haircut would be Saturday, February 17^th. Bro, you’ll be in the Dann Carlton, any reason to believe I wouldn’t be able to keep that? That’s also when I would pick up my monthly medications. I used to do this once a month but it works better for my schedule if its every 4 weeks on a Saturday.

I had a 10-minute wait or so for my next ride to Todo Drogas where I bought more a couple medications than usual for 416,900 pesos ($106).

I walked 3 blocks to a tienda naturista where I purchased a bottle of Omega-3 for 38,600 pesos.

A couple more blocks to a Banca Caja Social where I tried to make a withdrawal but got the “Unable to process” message. I’m beginning to think my (Capital One) Mastercard is accepted differently than my (USAA) Visa card.

I walked to Parva where I had a café con leche for about 90 minutes.

When I entered the apt Teresa asked, “where is the platano maduro?”. She sent me a message 2 minutes before I arrived and I reminded her that for security purposes I don’t look at my cellphone when I’m on the street. Not that I would have heard the call anyway.

Really_not_good blundered on his 32^nd move increasing my rating 3 points to 1599. (I didn’t request a new game but we’ll see if he challenges me for one.)

I watched a few more episodes of Quarterback on Netflix.

I texted Mu and the restaurant is open but they’re not doing home deliveries today.

Teresa got off the phone and MT wants to go for gelato at Antionio’s.

We left the apt about 4:30 and met MT just down the block on calle 30. We walked to Antonio’s Gelato and we each had a small cup of gelato. We found out you can get it “mixed” so I had half pistachio and half strawberry, where they put one flavor on one side and the other flavor on the other. 😊 This place is a gold mine.

It probably took us 30 minutes total to pay for our gelato and then get in another line to receive it. (Teresa finally figured out we can split forces, she getting in one line to pay and I getting in the other for the gelato.)

We had moved to a short wall to sit across the street when Teresa decided she’d like to have supper at the new restaurant Bastardo. I heard it’s a little pricey so I asked her first to go check out the menu and then if she still wants to eat there, I would go back to the apt for my debit card. (I had enough cash to cover it but I didn’t want to give up all my small bills, my 20s.) When they didn’t return, I looked in the restaurant and Teresa and MT were sitting at a table and I learned Teresa had already ordered her salmon. Luckily, the waitress spoke English so I asked her to hold off on our order for 5-minute so I could return to our apt for our credit card. I ordered their ribs and returned 15 minutes later with both my debit card and large bills if I needed to pay in cash.

Teresa loved her salmon (she shared it with MT) which means we can come back 😊 and my ribs were pretty good. I also had a Coke and the ladies shared a yellow Hatsu tea. The total check came to 174,596 pesos ($44) so that wasn’t too bad.

We caught a taxi and dropped MT off at her apt and returned to ours for 9,200 pesos.

Just before 10pm we heard some fireworks which must mean that one of the local soccer teams won their game.

It was just a few minutes after 10pm and we were in bed when we heard one of those loud explosions like a transformer blew.

 

CRAZY SIGNS

Friday, January 19, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 5am, felt a tremblor that shook the bed at 6:26, finally getting up at 6:30.

I completed my workout from 8:15 to 9:15. Today is the end of a line in my notebook so it’s time to decide which machines to increase the weight on next week.

I had a latte in Los Porteños and briefly talked to a couple from Missouri.

I stopped at the little copy center and printed pre-procedure instructions for Teresa’s colonoscopy on Monday.

Restaurant Mu was closed over the holidays; today I checked and not only is it open but it has expanded days/hours. Now they are only closed on Mondays. They are open Friday & Saturday from noon to midnight, Sunday from noon to 3pm and 6pm to 10pm, Tuesday – Thursday from 4pm to 10pm. I think we’re going there tonight for dinner.

I renewed my MagicJack subscription online, an additional 3 years for $109+9.81+7.63 = $126.44.

Really_not_good gave me all I could handle until he blundered on his 44^th move eventually resigning on his 59^th move increasing my rating 3 points to 1596.

I’m going to keep my ChessBase databases as they are for now. After my brother brings me some new hardware, I’m going to work seriously on reclaiming some space.

Teresa and I decided we would go out to Mu for dinner. Then we changed to having ribs delivered. I texted them about 6:30 but hadn’t heard from them in 15 minutes. Teresa then wanted to go for patacones so she called Gloria but the patacones lady (across the street) wasn’t open. Mu finally got back to us and apologized but they were remodeling and hoped to be open tomorrow. I ended up having a bowl of cereal. 😊

I watched a couple more episodes of Quarterback on Netflix.

Teresa was reading her colonoscopy preprocedural instructions and was lamenting how little food she can eat starting the day before. Then she read something about her nails and said she will have to cancel her Monday appointment because she has acrylic nails and the lady that can remove them won’t be working tomorrow.

 

CRAZY SIGNS

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, slept through the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:30. I had a dream I was visiting a foreign country and one of the last things that happened is we were at a miniature golf course but to get to the first hole we had to climb along a wall with just handhold and footholds to avoid falling into a pond. 😊

Teresa is going to an 8am gym class so I’m on my own for breakfast. She’s going to meet a friend in Santafe mall so I’m on my own for lunch. 😊

There is a long line along the sidewalk in front of our apt. Teresa says they are people hoping to get a job in Ara.

I left at 8am and had breakfast in Los Porteños. I left there at 9:15 and Marcos and his cousin Marshall were waiting for me in Eduardo Madrid. We took a back table and Marcos and I ordered lattes (actually café con leches) and Marshall an orange juice and an individual apple pie. Marcos finally agreed the author of the book he’s recommending, Paddle to the Amazon, is Don Starkell not John Stockton (he probably had basketball on his mind). He informed me that the doctor’s believe he might have gallstones. More tests required.

Teresa texted me asking me to pick up broccoli, avocados, and tomatoes for lunch.

When I returned to Ara there was a card table set up outside their front door and a line along the wall (in the shade) then continuing in the shade of our sidewalk, extending down to the driveway then doubling back along the curb. You might be able to see through the trees some of those waiting in this video.

I’m assuming because Ara’s been so successful, they’ll be opening more locations and these are people applying for work

I’m trying to get my ChessBase 16 databases organized. I’ve identified 3 sources for them, 1 on my C: drive and 2 on my D: drive

1.   C:\Users\Terry\OneDrive\Documents\ChessBase\MyWork\

2.   D:\Emergency-Files From Documents, Documents\ChessBase\Database\Work\

3.   D:\Documents\Colombia\Chess\

The second one I believe I copied from my old computer back in 2020. To complicate things, I’m dealing with MS OneDrive and ChessBase Cloud Databases.

It was 2pm when I noticed the line outside was gone. I’m guessing Ara told them aren’t taking any more applications.

Teresa left about 3pm and took a Didi to Santafe mall to visit with her girlfriend.

I believe source #1 is on the OneDrive cloud and #2 is on the Chessbase cloud and #3 is only on my laptop’s D: drive.

I went through the ChessBase manual trying to learn more about cloud databases.

I checked Cine Colombia but there isn’t anything interesting. I have confidence there will be something soon.

I called MagicJack and after a 30-minute wait, I tried to renew my subscription but got disconnected at the last minute. That’s an hour I won’t get back. I’ll try again tomorrow

I deleted some files to free up space on my drives.

I found a Netflix series called Quarterback (8.0) and I watched the first two episodes.

Teresa returned at 8pm.

Looking back I can’t remember the last time we’ve had rain. I think it’s rained once in the past 2 months.

 

CRAZY SIGNS

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, woke up at 5am, couldn’t fall back asleep, finally getting up at 5:30.

Another interesting day in paradise!

I completed my workout in Smartfit from 8am to 9am. I stopped in the Pasteur pharmacy where I bought a small box of man pads. The pharmacist helped decipher the word “punctually” from Dr. Uriba’s prescription. It turned out not to be anything important.  By 9:30 I was sitting in Los Porteños enjoying a latte.

Troyclough and I agreed to a draw dropping my rating 3 points to 1593. (Computer analysis showed I had a checkmate in 4 moves. ☹)

I left at 11:15 and returned to the apt.

At 12:16 I texted Teresa I was on my way to the mall. I noticed the corner construction now has 2-way traffic on the side street north of the mall.

My iPod is working normally again. Usually it dies after 3-4 songs, now it worked back and forth to Sao Paolo mall on Sunday and today to Viva Envigado.

I recycled a plastic bottle then printed a few things in Auros:

·     2 screen prints of my chess databases I hope to consolidate into 1 (unfortunately I don’t think it’s going to garner me additional space on my hard drive).

·     A screen print of the receipt of our (my brother and I) hotel (Mariscal Robledo) in Santafe de Antioquia for February 12^th-13^th.

·     A screen print of my old notes on ATMs and the fees they charge. I haven’t updated it in years so it’s time to figure out anew which is the least expensive.

At the Servibanca ATM I withdrew 2,000,000 pesos but the ATM fee was 22,500 pesos.

I went upstairs to pay for our Claro cellphone plans. The girl went to the safe but only came back with 1mil coins. For change for the first Claro bill she gave me a 20mil peso note and 7 1mil coins. I could see the smallest bill in her drawer was a 10mil note so I gave her almost exact change for the 2^nd bill. I then gave her the 7 1mil coins back plus a 2mil note and another 1mil in change and she gave me the 10mil note. She motioned asking if I had any 2mil notes and I gave her all I had and my 10mil note and she gave me a 20mil note and we were both happy.

At 12:30 I texted Teresa I was in the mall waiting for her to go for lunch.

I went into Cine Colombia and exchanged my silver Cine Colombia card for a platinum one. Besides the card itself, bonuses include a free popcorn with every visit, 2 courtesy tickets, a combo of popcorn, hotdog and soda, 35% discount off movies and 20% discount off all concession combos, preferred lines, and online purchases without paying a surcharge.

I went down to Urbania and had a latte while waiting for Teresa to call me for lunch.

At 1:15 I texted her asking if we’re going for lunch soon.

She left me a voice mail that she’s still getting her nails done and I shouldn’t wait for her for lunch.

I paid for my latte and went upstairs to Only Roast Beef where I ordered their small BBQ roast beef sandwich with fries and a Coke. As usual they gave me the beeper (or whatever it’s called) and I headed to the restroom. Just outside the entrance I saw what was obviously vomit on the floor. Outside the women’s restroom I encountered several cleaning ladies so I said, “alguien vomitar afuera” and pointed to the entrance. One of the cleaning ladies responded in broken English with, “I don’t speak English”. I didn’t know my Spanish was that bad. Luckily, a lady behind me told the lady in better Spanish than mine what the problem was.

I finished my sandwich and went to the Exito Wow office and found this sign on the number taking machine.

While I was trying to figure out what it said a Colombian girl came up to help and pressed the right buttons to get my turn number. I then understood why the sign didn’t say “afuera servicio”, it was working just not printing tickets.

I only had a 5-minute wait but it took the agent at least 10 minutes to track everything and then I had to sign 2 pages in 3 different spots. I was a little surprised I didn’t have to give them my fingerprint. I got the cash and stuffed it in my tech bag.

I went into Cine Colombia and texted Teresa I was only waiting for her because she said she wanted to buy something.

I noticed ads for upcoming movies including The Zone of Interest (8.0) and Poor Things (8.4).

Teresa called and asked me to meet her and MT in 30 minutes at Percimon. They had yogurt ice cream with the fixings and I had a palito – frozen yogurt ice cream bar.

When we left we walked to the south end of the mall where we were surprised to see stores outside Exito, Mimo’s, Dogger, McDonald’s desserts, small bakeries, etc, like before the IKEA construction started but now in a more modern space.

We walked across the street to MT’s apartment where Teresa picked up some of her things and we returned to the apt by taxi.

 

CRAZY SIGNS

 

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, woke up again at 5am, couldn’t fall back asleep, finally getting up at 5:30.

As usual I ordered my Didi at 7:30 but it didn’t arrive until 20 minutes later. After the heavy traffic of merging on to the expressway we moved quickly and I arrived at Unicentro mall by 8:10.

Jose was already seated working on his first coffee. They didn’t have French toast so I ordered an egg casserole with a latte and a bottle of water. We discussed the Davivienda ATM problem and he looked at one of my recent games on chess.com.

I had the Black pieces in the first game and he got real aggressive but I held him off and checkmated him on the 28^th move. He said he didn’t see it coming. 😊

I had the White pieces in the second game and we both had lots of tactical chances but I lost on time on the 42^nd move.

In Santa Leña I had an arequipe croissant and a latte. The croissant was a little on the dry side but the latte was better than last time.

I went downstairs and was successful at making a withdrawal from a Davivienda ATM. 😊

In Exito I bought a small carton of eggs and a bottle of Blancox. Outside I found a taxi waiting for me to return me to the apt although it cost me 25,200 pesos (compared to the 8,700 pesos it cost this morning).

Teresa explained that she’s going to visit her mother tomorrow although we probably will meet up for lunch at La Bahia.

 

CRAZY SIGNS

Monday, January 15, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, finally getting up at 6:30am.

I received an error message when I tried to save my blog Word file:

I had to delete some more files from my D: drive and then empty the recycle bin to free up the space I had just deleted.

I completed my workout in Smartfit from 8am to 9am. By 9:30 I was sitting in Los Porteños having a latte. I left at 11:30 and returned to the apt.

Teresa has a 2pm MRI so she asked me to go to lunch first. I left just after noon and had lunch in Otra Parte

Teresa joined me at 1:15 and we walked across the street to Auna Clinica Las Americas. After she checked in we took a seat and someone came out exactly at 2pm to take her in back. At 3pm I figured she must be just about done. A girl came out and tried to explain something to me in Spanish. I’ll save you all the translation problems we had but in the end she took me back, I emptied my pockets and put everything in a locker, we went inside the tomography room to the other side of the MRI where I pinched Teresa’s nose closed when the lady said “no respirar”. I only had to do it one and I was back outside sitting in a chair. Teresa came out 20 minutes later.

She didn’t want to go to Otra Parte so she led me down the street to a little restaurant called Pecositas. They didn’t have much of a menu so Teresa had a couple of different empanadas and a Coke. I had my 4^th coffee of the day. We returned to the apt in time for me to catch the beginning of the Buffalo Bills vs Pittsburgh Steelers game. I forgot about the late game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles.

I lost all I had written for today when I got another “out of space” message. I had to clear space again and start all over. ☹

 

CRAZY SIGNS

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, was awakened at 4am by fireworks (☹), finally getting up at 6:30am.

I left the apt a little after 8am and walked to La Frontera mall. I tried the Davivienda ATM there but received the same error message.

In Sao Paolo Glenn soon joined me and I told him about my problem with Davivienda. He suggested I try the Scotiabank Colpatria ATM. I did and received the error message, “Transaccion no exitosa. Transaccion no permitida.” He suggested I try the Bancolombia ATM. I did and managed to withdraw 600,000 pesos ($153) for a transaction fee of 26,990 pesos ($7) for a total cost of $159.55.

He also suggested I get a library card from my US local library and I can download books using the Libby app. I’ll have to investigate that further.

I had my usual almond croissant with a latte and calentao with scrambled eggs and a latte for about 40mil.

I walked to Los Porteños where I started reviewing Part 5, Endgames for Class ‘C’ Players while having a latte.

Teresa called and asked me to pick up gelato at Pepo’s, whatever flavor I wanted just something different than before – pistachio.

I left at 12:30, and bought a ½ liter of Ferrero which I think is Spanish for iron.

I read on Flipboard that Jerry Seinfeld’s favorite comedy is the 1972 film The Heartbreak Kid (7.0) which reminds me ...

It was 1972 and my college buddy’s (Jack) wife “she who shall remain nameless” wanted to see Fellini’s Roma (7.3).

We missed the first 5-10 minutes, including the title, but when we sat down I remember seeing a newly married couple driving down the highway in Florida to Miami. It turned out to be the comedy The Heartbreak Kid (7.0) that I loved very much..much more I’m sure than Fellini’s Roma. 😊

I beat really_not_good in 42 moves increasing my rating to 1596.

I watched the Chiefs beat the Dolphins 26-7.

I watched the Packers beat the Cowboys 48-32.

Later the Lions edged the Rams 24-23.

 

CRAZY SIGNS