Thursday, May 30, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 4:15, finally waking/getting up at 6:15.

This is what the metal plate in the sidewalk looks like from my bedroom window; you’ll have to zoom in a to see it.

I had a latte in Los Porteños for a couple hours. Marcos is back and we made plans to meet for coffee tomorrow at 9am. I left at 11:30 and met Teresa outside Ara on her way to her nail appointment.

I left the apt at 12:55 and experienced a few raindrops as I was crossing Calle 30. I took a seat at Asados Rogelio and Teresa joined me a few minutes later. It was soon pouring but it only lasted 20 minutes. A few minutes later is started up again. We had the usual Colombian lunch for 57,250 pesos.

She showed me her acrylic nails that cost her 45mil

and Laura said hers cost $55 in Boston.

Just after 2pm the rain let up so we quickly returned to the apt.

We left the apt at 3:30 and took a Didi to Clinica Medellin on calle 7 in Poblado. Teresa went in to check but as I expected we had to go across the street to Cedimed to pick up her test results. Five minutes later we cross the street again and caught a taxi. Teresa gets in and says, “Avenida ochenta” and I said, “Belen” and she gave me a dirty look. I soon figured out she wanted to go to the eps on calle 50 (and Avenida setenta) near the stadium not the eps on Avenida ochenta in Belen.

We were in the taxi on calle 50 just blocks from eps when my son texted me that Donald Trump, the 45^th president of the US had been convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up his payments to porn star Stormy Daniels for their affair from becoming public before the 2016 election. (He suspected, probably correctly, that if that had come to light so soon after the Access Hollywood debacle, “you can grab them by the pussy, they let you do it, he probably would have lost.

We arrived 20 minutes before her 5pm appointment. She checked in at the first station then told me I could go across the street to the café for coffee. I just arrived and hadn’t taken a seat when she called me and asked me to come back. She was waiting in line at the second station where I had to pay 4,500 for her consultation. I returned to the café, took a seat and ordered a café con leche and churro from a waitress with an electric tablet. After I finished my little café con leche and churro (sugar donut) and waited a little longer I went to the cashier, gave him my table number and paid 2,700 pesos (70 cents). I had just sat down again when Teresa called me to meet outside the clinic. We walked across the street and caught a taxi as a girl arrived at her destination and got out. It was about 5:30 and in heavy traffic we returned to Envigado at 7pm in a light rain.

Teresa was hungry so she suggested we get out at McDonald’s. Fine with me. She then suggested

And I countered with Chiclayo but we ended up at Olivia’s where she had salmon and I Fettuccine con albondigas and we shared a bottle of water for 106,476 pesos ($28). The rain had finally stopped by the time we walked back to the apt.

I see my pension deposits in my bank account. 😊

I started watching CNN about the trial result then switched to MSNBC and didn’t get to bed until midnight.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 1:15, again at 4:45, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

A light drizzle started right at 8am; The Weather Channel predicted it would start at 8:30 and I was hoping to escape the apt before it started.

I left the apt at 8:45 with just enough dripping that I had to put up my umbrella. I stopped at the Bancolombia window where I printed yesterdays’ chess game analysis, for the first time back-to-back, for 1,200 pesos (30 cents).  The rain stopped by the time I arrived at Parva where I had a café con leche and solved another couple pages of chess puzzles.

When I left at 11:30 I noticed a young man carrying a football walking down Calle 31. I watched him as he walked past Eduardo Madrid, heading down towards Ave Las Vegas. I returned to the apt.

Teresa has some test results in Cedimed so she gave me the list of instructions so I could download and print them. The system said her userid or password were invalid so we’ll have to make a trip there this afternoon.

About 2:30 she says she’ll give me her cedula and asked if I can pick up her test results. First, I asked if she’s sure the results are ready. She said her test was a week ago so they should be ready. I told her if there’s no problem, no problem, but if they try to explain something about why they aren’t available I won’t understand. Eventually, she mentioned she has a 5pm doctor’s appointment tomorrow so we’ll stop and pick up these results on the way.

Last week I did some curls with my 7# dumbbell and this week, Monday and today, I added some shoulder extensions and raises. I feel a little stiffness in my neck as a result but if it doesn’t get any worse I’ll probably return to the gym on Monday.

I watched more episodes of The Good Fight.

Well, well, well, somebody’s welding a plate over that hole that had the branch in it.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 4am, finally waking/getting up by alarm at 6:30.

I took a Didi to Unicentro and due to heavy traffic arrived right at 8am. I went up to Parmessano, waited one minute for them to open, then took a seat. Jose soon joined me. We both ordered French toast but the waiter soon returned and informed us they didn’t have it today so we both ordered one of their egg casseroles:

I told Jose about my plans to play in the August chess tournament. He mentioned the Intercontinental tournament is going on right now (last time here was 7 years ago), with players from all over the Americas.

We moved to the food court. I lost the first game with the Black pieces in 40 moves and he showed me where I missed an opportunity to gain the advantage on move 23. ☹

I won the second game in 61 moves with him resigning one move before checkmate.

It was 2:30 when we said our goodbyes. I went across the street to $efecty and after a 10-minute wait in line I paid our Tigo/Une Wi-Fi bill.

Back across the street I ordered an Uber and was a little surprised that, despite the fact I was standing outside the Conquistadores entrance, it wanted me to move to the San Joaquin entrance. Traffic wasn’t too bad and he dropped me off at Viva Envigado.

I went upstairs to Pergamino café but there weren’t any seats available so I went to Sarku’s where I had my usual teriyaki chicken with a limonada de coco.

I left about 4:15 and returned to the apt by taxi.

I did a computer analysis on each of our games from today.

I drew a game against Troyclough and my rating is now 1581.

I watched another couple episodes of The Good Fight.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Monday, May 27, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 1:30, again at 5am, finally waking/getting up at 6:15. Teresa got up at 6:45, I don’t usually get up before her.

I left the apt at 9am and on the sidewalk just passed Tienda D1 I encountered a woman carrying a branch. She said something to me but I didn’t understand a word so I said, “lo siento, no hablo mucho español” and continued on my way. At Los Porteños I encountered a springer spaniel that followed me to my table. (I think he could smell the dog biscuit in my pocket.) I asked permission to give it to their dog and when they approved I did. The couple, apparently medical professionals here, spoke some English. A few more times the man gave me treats to give to the dog. Just before they left he gave me another treat for the dog and it was right in front of me, expectant. I said, “sit” then “paw” and he sat and offered me his paw (muddy) before I could even finish the words. 😊

I completed a few more pages of chess exercises, passing the 10% mark.

I left at 11:15, and in front of Tienda D1 I saw the branch sticking out of the hole in the sidewalk. I stopped to buy some laundry products in Ara and returned to the apt.

Well, this doesn’t look very encouraging:

At 12:30 we had a downpour but it only lasted about 5 minutes.

I left the apt at 2:30 and stopped at the Bancolombia window to pay the Tigo/Une bill but she said she couldn’t do it for some reason. I continued on to Eduardo Madrid where I had a latte while solving a couple more pages of chess puzzles. At 3:40 I thought it felt like rain and sure enough 5 minutes later it’s raining. There was a break in the rain but I hesitated and when I finally decided to leave it was raining lightly so I put up my portable umbrella. I stopped in Ara and waited about 10 minutes in line to pay for 2 bags of milk before returning to the apt.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 resigned our game increasing my rating to 1584.

I watched more episodes of The Good Fight.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Sunday, May 26, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 12:30, again at 5am, finally waking/getting up at 6:45. Well, in total it’s almost 9 hours.

We left the apt at 8:40 and walked to Sao Paulo where we found DoSabores not yet open. We had breakfast in Olivenza and Teresa was happy with her avocado toast and I with my calentao with scrambled eggs. Add a couple lattes and the total came to 85,222 pesos. I’m not sure she’s going to want to do this again any time soon because she usually wants to eat earlier.

We walked back to the apt and soon left again and took a Didi to Mayorca mall. Medipiel was having a sale so I bought another container of my Cetaphil Urea 20% skin cream 20% off and Teresa bought some cream at 30% off for a total of 166,350 pesos ($43.50).

She shopped for t-shirts in a couple more stores then we went down to Exito where she bought chicken breasts and some veggies and we returned to the apt by taxi.

The portero handed us our last Amazon package. I opened it and was a little shocked how heavy the food Thermos was.

Teresa is going to use it to take food on her day trips to San Peregrino.

Just before 4pm a downpour started but it only lasted about an hour.

I watched a couple more episodes of The Good Fight.

I’m winning my lastest game vs ONEIPAMETATO1453 and Troyclough hasn’t moved for the past couple days so the system automatically puts him “on vacation”.

In the evening I watched an interesting talk show on MSNBC with Chris Hayes & Rachel Maddow.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Saturday, May 25, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, finally waking/getting up at 6am. What? I slept through the night? Yeah, I think so.

After a breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup (becoming a Saturday tradition), I went back to bed for a 30-minute nap. Teresa was just leaving as I got up.

I left the apt at 9am and right after I arrived in Parva a downpour started. I texted Glenn informing him we’re going to have breakfast tomorrow in DoSabores and he’s welcome to join us. He replied that he’ll go to Starbucks in Santafe mall if it isn’t raining. I completed a few more pages of chess puzzles. Teresa called me from La Bahia to make sure I had an umbrella (yes) and a jacket (no). The rain finally stopped at 10:15. I left at 11am and stopped in Ara where I bought a bag of milk, a “string?” of onions and half a dozen tomatoes. Back in the apt Teresa was unpacking some groceries from Ara including another “string” of onions. I must have just missed her. She said she needed to return to Ara because the 2 packages of chicken she had just bought were bad.

It's 11:30am and we’re back to sunny skies.

I checked Amazon and the last item, Teresa’s food thermos, is scheduled to arrive by 8pm tonight.

I used Booking.com to look for hotels near the Stadium for August 7-11. The only hotel nearby with a swimming pool (for Teresa to sunbathe) appears to be Hotel Boutique Deluxe Home (7.7) for $377 but it looks like its pool is indoors. ☹

I left at 2:15 and walked to the mall. I recycled a plastic bottle then went up to Santa Leña, took a seat and asked for a menu. The waiter explained that all they have are drinks and desserts. I told him that would be fine and I ordered a latte with an orange and carrot muffin.

The muffin was on the small side and a little dry. I completed a couple more pages of chess puzzles and returned to the apt by taxi.

I watched another episode of The Good Fight.

Teresa was hedging about going to DoSabores for breakfast tomorrow but I told her this is her idea so we’re going.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

 

Friday, May 24, 2024

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

Teresa left just before 8am for her Smartfit cass in Viva Envigado.

I eft the apt at 9am and took a Didi to the mall. I recycled a pill bottle then took a seat in Urbania. Teresa joined me about 10:30, I paid my bill and we went into Home Center. She said she was hungry so we stopped at a store where she bought a few things that looked a little like Dunkin munchkins. We sat at a little counter with 2 seats. When she finished we went to the housewares section where she picked out a new frying pan. I took a seat at a desk they were selling while she picked out a couple more things. We went to the cashier and I paid for our three items with my debit card. The cashier asked if we wanted to buy one of their reusable bags to carry everything and that’s when I realized I didn’t have my tech bag with me. I finally figured out I left it hanging from my chair at the counter. After running around a little bit asking multiple employees, we eventually went downstairs where we found it with a security guard. We put everything into a plastic bag I usually carry with me and we left the mall.

We went across the street to La Bahia where we had their menu of the day for 17mil each. Outside we quickly caught a taxi back to our apt.

I left at 1:30 and walked to Otra Parte where I ordered a latte from a barista I hadn’t seen before. It was awful and I was getting warm even though I was under an umbrella so I went inside and up to the 4^th floor and took a seat in the cooler library.

I noticed they were featuring a book on cicadas:

While there (4^th floor) I noticed at the level below me (3^rd floor) a father teaching his daughter how to play chess.

Teresa called and asked me to pick up gelato so about 3:30 I walked to Antonio’s where I bought a half liter of coconut gelato before returning to the apt.

We received part of my Amazon order which included a new shaver for me and a body lotion refill for Teresa. There’s one item missing from our order which I assume will arrive separately.

I watched another episode of The Good Fight on Medellin TV.

Supper was just an arepa con chocolo with cheese on top.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

 

Thursday, May 23, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 3:45am, finally waking/getting up at 7:15am.

I fell asleep fine so maybe 6pm isn’t too late for me to have coffee as long as I continue my pre sleep routine.

My pad appears to be dry this morning, possibly confirming that they TENS 3000 machine helps.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 resigned our game on the 32^nd move, increasing my rating to 1589.

Teresa called Alcala, our real estate company, something about gas. I finally learned, I think, that someone was here yesterday to check our gas but because we weren’t here they’re going to cut off our gas this Saturday if we don’t “do something”, and then we would have to pay a multa (fine or fee) to have it turned back on.

I was dressed and ready to leave at 9am but got delayed because of this gas problem. Finally, at 9:40 Teresa said I could go. She had a call in-progress but she was on hold.

I walked to Pasteur where I bought a box of pads and another tube of medicine for my ankle (the problem may have returned). I had a café con leche in Parva while working on some chess puzzles.

I left at 11:15 and wanted to print something at the Bancolombia window but there was a line. I’ll do it later. Crossing by the pet store I found a 1 ¾” drywall screw in the street which will be better in my toolbox than someone’s tire.

Teresa told me someone’s coming over next Thursday, May 30^th so I guess this latest disaster (gas) has been averted. Also, she has a friend that lives in Alcala (first thing I think of when she says that word is our RE agency but that’s the name of the neighborhood it’s in) she’s going to meet later for coffee. Maybe I’ll go see Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (8.1) at 1:40.

Direct TV still doesn’t work (sin señal) so Teresa will have to make a call about that.

I left the apt at 1:30 and took a Didi to the mall. I recycled a couple items then went up to Cine Colombia. I bought a balcony ticket for 8,000 pesos, then another platinum popcorn for free and a small soda for 8,900 pesos. I easily found my seat in the dark during the coming attractions.

The special effects were amazing but the movie was too long and I often couldn’t tell who was fighting who.

The closest restroom to the entrance has been closed for a week or two. Today I noticed the entrance to its waiting room is now drywalled over. I noticed iShop is closed for remodeling; my best guess is it will be expanding back into the previous restroom & waiting room space.

After I printed a couple pages of Teresa’s test results, I bought a few items in Exito and returned to the apt by taxi. It started raining a bit right as walked from the porteria to the garage.

I watched another episode of The Good Fight. At the end of season 4, episode 2 (April, 2020) the crew (actors, writers, producers, etc.) explained because of Covid they were going to delay releasing the next episode by a week.

I lost to Troyclough dropping my rating down to 1579. ☹ I messed that game up late in the opening.

A downpour for a while in the evening. It was still raining when I went to bed at 10pm.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6am.

It’s nice to be able to take a warm shower again.

Teresa reminded me of her 3:30 dentist appointment. We’re going to have lunch first in El Tesoro so I’m guessing she’ll be squeezing some shopping in there somewhere.

I left the apt just before 9am and walked to Los Porteños where I had a latte while working on solving more mate in 2 problems. I left about 11am and on my way back to the apt I confirmed the small grocery store is closed permanently. Now I have only Ara (& Tienda D1) plus the small grocery across from Smartfit. And Mercado Madrid and Exito in Viva Envigado.

We left the apt at noon and took a Didi to El Tesoro mall. We had lunch in J&C Delicias and the total came to 131,220 pesos ($34). I recall the same lunch costing about 80mil+ earlier so we’ve definitely had some inflation lately. During lunch I shared a couple things with Teresa: 1) The ultrasound at my Urologist appointment and that my gall bladder, liver, and kidneys look good, 2) My idea when the rainy season ends that we stay 3 days at the Dann Carlton Belfort to work on our tans by the pool.

We went up to Dr. Rendon’s office where Teresa got her teeth cleaned for 230mil. We learned that their daughter (Catalina?) is graduating from high school and will spend the next 3 months in France, studying French. Pretty cool!

We went downstairs to Cedimed and at the entrance a young lady came in assisted by two other girls and she appeared to be wearing a hospital gown with some obvious abdominal injury with dried blood. No speculation here. I paid 130mil and we had a 30-minute wait for Teresa to go in back. She came out about 90 minutes later.

Walking down the stairs right behind Teresa I almost stepped on her skirt which would have probably caused her to fall. I warned her about that and she should probably pull up the back of her skirt when she walks down stairs wearing a long skirt or dress.

Teresa said she was hungry so we went to Valentina’s where we shared a chicken sandwich and we each had a latte. (A young lady at the next table was working on her laptop with her small dog calmly waiting under her table.) I had an infusion of caffeine at 6pm so this will be a good test if this affects my ability to fall sleep.

About 6:45 we walked past Starbucks and I was shocked to see no customers inside and the 3 workers were leaning on the counter looking out. After returning from a visit to our respective restrooms, Starbucks was busy again with at least 10 customers.

There was no wait for a taxi and I was unpleasantly surprised to see the Wood Burger restaurant I’ve always wanted to try is now a Rappidogs. ☹

We were back at the apt by 7:15 for 18,200 pesos.

I’m winning my game in the middle game against ONEIPAMETATO1453 but losing my game against Troyclough.

No rain today which was nice.

I received a tracking email that my chess book arrived at JFK in New York.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, got up once at 11:30, don’t think I got back to deep sleep after that, finally waking/getting up at 6:20.

It was pouring outside, here and in Medellin, and I ended up cancelling my chess get-together with Jose. The rain ended by 7:45 though.

Troyclough resigned our game on the 30^th move and I increased my rating to 1583.

At 9am I took a Didi to the mall, recycled a glass bottle then took a seat in Urbania. I spent a couple hours studying mates in two, paid for my latte, bought a few items (including D batteries) in Exito and returned to the apt by taxi.

I noticed a sign in the elevator that Citi Plaza has chess lessons every Wednesday on the 2^nd floor from 4-5:30 for children and 5:30-7pm for adults.

I changed out the 2^nd old battery and, without touching anything else, we have hot water again. Strangely, Teresa insisted the previous owner told her that the hot water heater only contains one battery. Huh?

I watched another episode of The Good Fight and most of the rest of the night MSNBC news.

I’ve been leaking more the past week. It’s been 6 weeks since I’ve done a TENS 3000-unit procedure so maybe they’re more important than I thought so I started doing them again this afternoon.

About 6pm a downpour started that lasted about 45 minutes.

Tomorrow Teresa has her dentist appointment in the afternoon and I’ll be going with her.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Monday, May 20, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, got up once at 3:30, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

I took a quick cold shower this morning.

Teresa left just before 8am for her gym class. I left the apt at 8:30 and walked to Los Porteños where I put my last peanut in the crook of the tree and took my usual seat. I briefly met a guy from Tennessee; he usually comes in December or January and this is his first time in the rainy season.

I saw the red squirrel come down the wrong tree and head for the right one.

He went up the tree and stopped short of where I put the peanut seeming a little cautious to approach.

He took it and carried it a little further up another branch of the tree.

Here’s a still and video of him eating the peanut.

He seemed to enjoy it but he’ll have to wait a few months (football season) for another.

I solved a few more chess puzzles, left just after 11am and returned to the apt. The elevator was under maintenance so I had to walk up four flights of stairs.

I did a few arm curls with my 7# dumbbell with no problem.

After further observation I think I finally solved the problem with the water heater, there are 2 D batteries not just one. I’ll buy another one tomorrow and hopefully that will solve the problem.

I left the apt at 1:30 and walked to Eduardo Madrid bakery. I had a latte while studying the opening Jose usually plays against me when he has the Black pieces. At one point I asked the clerk if my bagels were ready and I saw her put them in a bag. They were busy helping other customers so I returned to my table. About 3:30 I heard thunder and they weren’t helping any customers so I paid 26,800 pesos for my bagels and latte and returned to the apt. I changed clothes and opened the bag to break up the bagels into 3 equal packages (2 for the freezer and 1 for the fridge) when I pulled out what looked like a loaf of rye bread. Teresa laughed at me for not looking in the bag before I paid. (Is this what they mean to be scammed in Colombia?) I dressed and was heading out the door when my phone, that I had left on my desk, rang. I reentered the apt and looked at it and it showed Eduardo Madrid so I handed the phone to Teresa. Besides the obvious she ordered a slice of carrot cake. 😊  I returned to the bakery and paid 12mil for the carrot cake and returned to the apt with it and my sleeve of 6 bagels. At least I made it back before there was any rain.

Teresa ate half of the carrot cake right away; I waited until later but it was delicious.

I drew a game against ONEIPAMETATO1453 that I was winning, lowering my rating 2 points to 1579.

Teresa wants us to go to breakfast next Sunday at DoSabores in Sao Paulo Plaza.

I couldn’t get Medellin TV to work without a lot of buffering. Teresa even tried Direct TV but couldn’t get a satellite connection.

Interesting, despite the thunder, we never had any rain today.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up once at 3:30, finally waking/getting up at 6am.

Teresa told me she wants me to take her to breakfast in her amiga’s restaurant, Dos Sabores in Sao Paulo. I told her anytime except today because I already made plans with Glenn.

I had a mini shower in cold water this morning.

I left the apt at 8:15 and walked to Sao Paulo and took a seat in Olivenza. Glenn with Bianca arrived right after I ordered my latte.

I brought him up-to-date on my week and he told me he finally received his new hearing aids. I asked him if he knew anything about making a will here and he said he would ask his friend Juan next time he sees him. In the meantime I should just write down my desires somewhere.

I left at 10:45 and googled Dos Sabores but I don’t see their hours.

I went across the street to a tienda that sells foreign products and bought a bottle of French’s Cattlemen’s Kansas City Classic BBQ Sauce for 14,500 pesos. I stopped at the corner market on the way back to the apt and bought 2 bags of milk.

Teresa was defrosting chicken so I guess I’m having lunch here.

I had a short nap after lunch, then left at 1:45 and took a Didi to the mall. I recycled my old D battery and a plastic bottle then went upstairs to Cine Colombia. When ordering my ticket to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (7.3) the girl asked if I wanted to pay for it with my points. Sure, why not? It saved me 13,300 pesos and I still got a preferred seat upstairs in the front row. 😊 I got a free small Platinum popcorn and bought a small soda. I used Runpee app to tell me when I could make a quick trip to the restroom. I enjoyed the movie evidenced by the fact that the 2 ½ hours went by quickly. I especially enjoyed the ending wondering how future films will follow up on it.

I returned to the apt by taxi.

I couldn’t get a good TV signal without lots of buffering so I just gave up and turned it off.

I spent about an hour working on chess puzzles then started reading my new Jack Reacher book, actually #1 in the series.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Saturday, May 18, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up once at 3:45, fell back asleep, finally waking/getting up at 6:30am.

Teresa already left for her 6:40am blood draw. If I understand correctly, they didn’t test for everything last time so she has to have another blood draw and doesn’t know what time she’ll return.

No hot water for my shower, (yesterday it took 3-4 tries to get the hot water to come on) guess it’s time to change the battery.

Teresa returned at 7:15 and made me breakfast.

I left the apt at 8:30 and walked to the mall. I recycled two plastic bottles, made an ATM withdrawal, paid the epm utility bill of 380,284 pesos ($98), and checked out the bagels in Al Alma. They only had one package and they were plain and didn’t look proper for halving. I went to Urbania and took a seat (only one other customer there at the time). Nadia came in with her significant other (boyfriend? Husband?) and they took a seat and had coffee.

I left at 11am, walked past Al Alma (the bagel situation didn’t look to have changed), and walked back towards the apt. I went up the road before calle 30 and just before Eduardo Madrid I saw a gate opening. An SUV came out and stopped in front of me and the driver said, “bonito, cierto?”. I was too tired to answer but I did nod my head in agreement. I think it’s a finca (probably the last so close to an urban area) and I have heard roosters crowing from inside.

I went into the bakery but they didn’t have any bagels for sale. I cut through the parking lot and returned to the apt.

Teresa informed me that Wilson is making arepas de chocolo so we might go there late in the afternoon for some.

I left the apt at 2:15 and walked to Eduardo Madrid. Still no sesame seed bagels. I ordered a latte and asked about sesame seed bagels and was told they don’t have any. I ordered 6 to be made for pick up on Monday. Teresa called and asked me to pick up coconut gelato. I left at 4pm, paid 8,200 pesos for my latte, and walked the two blocks to Antionio’s. I got in a line to pay then a line to pick up my half liter of coconut gelato. I walked back to the apt and Teresa attacked the gelato right away.

I changed the battery for the on-demand hot water heater but it still doesn’t work. ☹ There’s relighting instruction on the heater but they’re so faded I can’t read them.

I watched a couple more episodes of The Good Fight then I watched some MSNBC news coverage of the trial before going to bed.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Friday, May 17, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, seemed to take a little longer to fall asleep, got up once at 5:15, did my Kegel exercises, gave up going back to sleep and got up at 6am.

So my reading experiment last night had the advantage of I wasn’t watching any screens (TV or cellphone) but on the negative side my mind was busy working on the chess puzzles. I’ll try again tonight and see how it affects my falling asleep.

I’m down to my last half bagel so it’s time to make a trip to Eduardo Madrid.

We had a short shower about 7:15 this morning and after it stopped Teresa deemed it too cold to go to her gym class in Viva Envigado.

Well, that was weird. Teresa decided to go to the gym after all. (I guess because the sun came out?). I asked if she wanted me to order her a car. “Yes, right away.” I ordered a Didi, told her the car is silver, the driver’s name is Juan and as usual I sent a screenshot to her phone. I started shaving when for some reason I decided I’d better make sure she found the car. I looked at the Didi app and it showed the car stopped on our street. I walked out to the balcony and I saw a silver car with its emergency lights on in front of Tienda D1. I took a long-distance photo (x2) of the car then zoomed in and the license plate matched. 

I pointed to the car and motioned toward Palo de Rosa and I guess he saw me because he turned his lights off, drove to our porteria and I saw Teresa come out. Whew, disaster averted!

I left the apt at 9am and had a latte in Eduardo Madrid. They had several sleeves of bagels but they were all plain. I’m going to check café Al Alma in the mall tomorrow; I remember they often have bagels and Marcos raves about them and I’ve never tried them.  I competed more puzzles in my book and won an endgame against Troyclough increasing my rating 4 points to 1581. While paying, I met an English-speaking Colombian named David whose 9-year-old daughter just learned how to play chess. He said there is a “master” named Betancur (last name, don’t remember the first) teaching chess at the Envigado stadium every night, including Saturday, from 4-7pm. I’m going to have to check it out.

My neck/shoulder problem is pretty close to being back to normal. I’m hoping to start with some dumbbell exercises on Monday and we’ll see how it responds.

We left the apt at 12:30 and took a Didi to Big Boy in Envigado for 14,620 pesos. I waved “hi” to Carmelo, the owner. I ordered the fish & chips to share and a Coke for me but Teresa ordered a bottle of water. I showed Teresa the Avianca flights to Popayán, none direct and all $300-$400 so we decided it wasn’t worth it. We’ll try to gift the certificate to someone.

I ate two of the pieces of fish and she ate most of two pieces trying not to eat the outside fried part. She didn’t touch the fries wishing to have a baked potato instead. I think she had the waiter wrap the remainder of the fries to gift to the next homeless person. The check came to almost 52mil. I ordered an Uber to take us back to the apt for 14,720 pesos.

I left at 2pm and walked to Los Porteños where I had a latte while working on more chess puzzles. Teresa called and asked me to pick us dish washing liquid on my way back to the apt. Later she called again and asked me to pick up a few lemons. I left at 5pm, stopped at Ara for the few purchases and returned to the apt.

I watched another couple episodes of The Good Faith on Medellin TV. I also spent some time before bed working on the chess puzzles.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Thursday, May 16, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10am, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 4am, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

Another very overcast morning.

I took an Uber to El Tesoro for 10,760 pesos, arriving at Dr. Castaño’s office in Torre Medico #1 just before 9am. I took a seat in his small, crowded waiting room and was surprised others went before me; so much for a 9am appointment. I was finally let into his office at 9:45.

I brought the doctor up to date on my condition, he had me lie on his exam table and did an ultrasound and declared my gall bladder free of stones, and my liver and kidneys healthy. 😊 I paid 290,000 pesos and my next appointment will be Thursday, November 21^st at 9:40am and he gave me a full blood work order for PSA, HDL, etc.

I took the stairs one floor down to Dr. Rendon’s office where I asked them to call Teresa for an appointment.

I took the elevator down to the 3^rd floor (which is the 2^nd floor of the mall, go figure) and went into Santa Leña where I had an almond croissant with a latte. I need to start cutting back on these snacks if I ever want to lose more of my belly.

I left at 11am and ordered an Uber to pick me up outside the exit by the Mac Center. I was a couple minutes late getting there but the driver said he was there. After walking up and down in front of the entrance a couple time I ended up cancelling the ride defaulting 2,500 pesos and took a taxi back to Envigado for 18,200 pesos. I exited the taxi in front of Ara and bought 2 bags of milk before returning to the apt.

It’s after lunch and the skies have pretty much cleared.

I left the apt at 1:45 and walked to Mundo Huevo where I bought a container of Badia Complete Seasoning that Teresa requested. I went to Parva where I bought a palito de queso blanco to go for her and ordered a latte for me.

I finished the 306 mate-in-one puzzles in my book.

We had showers on and off and finally at 5pm there was a break in the rain and I returned to the apt.

I finally sprung the surprise on Teresa. I asked her if she had any plans for lunch tomorrow. Her usual response, “where do you want to invite me?” I asked her if she would like to go to a restaurant where I’ll eat fish. That’s when the interrogation began:

What kind of fish? I don’t know.

Where is this restaurant? Sabaneta.

Have you been there before? Yes.

How many times? Twice.

Why did you go without me? I wanted to make sure it was fish I would like.

So now we have a date to go to Big Boy tomorrow for fish & chips.

I tried something different before going to sleep. I usually read a novel for an hour or so but tonight I substituted studying for an hour in my chess puzzle book.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, fell asleep quickly, got up once during the night (it was raining), waking/getting up at 6am.

I left the apt at 9am and walked to Los Porteños where I put another peanut in the crook of the tree then had a latte while I started the mate in one puzzles.

Teresa called at 11am and suggested I go to Parva and buy a loaf of pan de maiz (corn bread) for garlic bread to go with the pasta she’s making. I paid for my latte and went around the corner to Parva but they didn’t have any. I stopped at Eduardo Madrid bakery but they didn’t have any either. ☹

I returned to the apt and Teresa handed me the epm bill of 380,284 pesos ($97.50) and informed me that my 10am doctor’s appointment for tomorrow has been changed to 9am. Well, that spoils my plan of going to the burger place across the street for lunch.

Teresa informed me that Kelley will not be coming today.

I left the apt at 1:30 and walked to Otra Parte where I ordered a latte and took a seat at one of the umbrella tables. No sooner did the waitress bring my latte when it started raining. I was okay for about 2 sips then gave up as the rain got harder. I went upstairs to the library and took a seat at a long counter. I continued my mates-in-one for a while, noticed the rain had stopped then left at 3:30 and returned to the apt.

I turned on NFL Network at 7pm to see the NFL schedule release but they dragged it out and I didn’t see the Bears schedule until 9pm. They open the season September 8^th at noon in Tennessee against the Titans. Btw, I finished eating my bag of peanuts.

I informed Teresa about my plan to play in the Flower Fair chess tournament August 7^th – 11^th and stay in a private room at The Wandering Paisa Hostel but she wasn’t interested in joining me.

I gave up reading the hard cover book Okay Fine Whatever by Courtenay Hameister and I downloaded a couple books to my Kindle.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, fell asleep quickly, got up once during the night, got up again at 5:45 to go to the bathroom, finally getting up at 6:15.

I got checkmated by ONEIPAMETATO1452 lowering my rating 11 points to 1577. ☹

I left at 7:30 and took a Didi for 20,700 pesos to Unicentro mall arriving 5 minutes before the doors opened.

I took a seat at our usual table and Jose arrived a few minutes later. We each had an egg casserole and a latte for breakfast. I told Jose about our raffle winnings and my meeting with Juan Carlos. I informed him I’m planning on playing in the Flower Faire chess tournament in August but instead of running back and forth every day I’m going to rent a hotel room nearby.

We moved to the food court and to make a long story short I lost both games to Jose.

It was only 2:30 as I took a Didi for 16,000 pesos to Viva Envigado. (As we reached Envigado we continued in a light drizzle.)

I had the granola with yogurt, chia berries and fruit and a small latte in Pergamino. In the future I’ll try to remember not to sit in the back where the ceiling fans are as they dry out my eyes.

I texted IM Juan Carlos I wasn’t expecting private lessons like we did before but I would like some advice of what to work on. He suggested I do Laszlo Polgar’s chess problem.

That’s the book I have that’s 1,104 pages long and weights half a ton. Well, maybe a little less than that but it’s not going to be fun to lug around.

I left at 4pm, bought 8 ripe tomatoes in Exito and walked to MT’s apt. I called Teresa, she came out and we returned to the apt by taxi.

BOOK

I watched the news on CNN & MSNBC about the Trump trial.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Monday, May 13, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, woke up once from someone outside talking and another person revving their motorcycle, got up at 5:30 to go to the bathroom, finally getting up at 6am.

Today is another holiday here, Day of Ascension.

When Teresa got up she complained about someone using a leaf blower at 2:30 in the morning so I guess that’s what I heard.

She wants to check out El Tesoro mall and I said I would go with her if I could wait for her in a café. She agreed, so we’ll probably leave around noon and have lunch there.

I left the apt at 9:45 and took a Didi to the mall carrying my chess book and Chess Life magazines. I had my choice of tables in Urbania and IM Juan Castro Guerro Sierra soon joined me. He told me he’s tutoring several children in chess including 2 in the US for whom he charges $70 an hour. (He said Grandmasters charge $120 an hour.) He has 1 GM norm and I was mistaken there is NOT a time limit to get the other 2 norms to become a GM. He has a sister who has one of the booths here in the mall and she sells cheesecake but it isn’t cheesecake; I didn’t really understand that. He has another sister in Australia and he might play in some tournaments there.

We talked about all the places we’ve visisted and he recommended Cayo Santa Maria in Cuba.

He’s still studying French and reads a daily Russian newspaper online.

I told him about my chess table and how I’d like to leave it to him in my will, if I had a will. I need to do more research on that but at least I’m making it clear here. (Later, at lunch I also mentioned it to Teresa who wasn’t very happy with me talking about my death.)

At 11:30 I informed him I had to leave, I paid the bill for 2 coffees, bought milk and bananas in Exito and returned to the apt by taxi.

Teresa and I left at 12:15 and took a Didi to El Tesoro mall for 10,500 pesos. She did some shopping (unfortunately Zara is still closed 😊) then we had lunch in J&C Delicias. I told her that I want us to go to Popoyán before September when football season starts. I also told her that I want to leave my chess table and chairs to Juan Carlos when I die. She didn’t like me talking about me dying.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 resigned our game increasing my rating 8 points to 1588.

She did some more shopping and bought a pair of sunglasses in Le Solar for 580mil ($149) and a couple skin care products at a discount in Medipiel for 270mil ($69.50).

I suggested we have coffee in Victoria’s Café but she wanted frozen yogurt across the hall in Madelo.

It was 4pm when we both realized we’d better get home before all the people clog the roads returning from the fincas for the long weekend.

We had no problem getting the next taxi and returned to the apt for 15,200 pesos.

I spent most of the rest of the evening watching the news about DJT’s court case on CNN and MSNBC.

I finished reading Ken Follett’s 800+ pages The Evening and The Morning on my Kindle.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS