Saturday, June 29, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 4:30, woke up at 6:30, got up at 7:15.

Teresa informed me she’s going to Santafe mall with a girlfriend she hasn’t seen in a while. I’m invited but I begged off so I’ll be on my own for lunch.

Last Thursday I suggested Marcos meet me at Parva at 10:30 to talk about the debate.

I took a Didi to Daniel’s barbershop for my 4-week haircut. I took another Didi to Todo Drogas where I purchased my monthly medications for 154,900 pesos. For some reason the muchacho wouldn’t sell me Zopiclona, my sleep medication, without a prescription. That’s a first.

I stopped in Pasteur and bought 2 boxes of Zopiclona for 45,236 pesos. I went to the other side of the block where I had a latte in Parva. I left at 11:30; Marcos never showed up. Teresa called and told me we’re having lunch at home. She asked me to buy Fab laundry detergent and a small carton of eggs in Ara before returning to the apt. The smallest off brand they had was 30 eggs so I bought that.

The subject was questions for her US embassy interview. She’s asking me something about the date I sent a letter to eps. After talking to Laura and Natalia I figured out she wants to know the date she was added to my eps insurance. (I didn’t even realize she was on my insurance.) I sent Natalia Teresa’s photo and she will let me know on Tuesday (Monday being a holiday).

At the suggestion of Noel Studer I’m joining Lichess.org in order to practice their organized chess puzzles.

We left at 3:15 and took a Didi to Santafe mall. We entered at the lower entrance so Teresa could practice making a withdrawal from the Davivienda ATM with my Capital One bank card. When I’m gone I want to be sure she knows how to withdraw cash from the correct bank and without accepting the conversion.

I had a latte in Valentina’s

for a couple hours while she did some shopping. ONEIPAMETATO1453 finally resigned our game increasing my rating to 1584. Teresa returned and she had a latte, I had my 2^nd, and she also had an avocado open face sandwich. I paid 52mil and she shopped for shoes; boy have they gotten expensive, we saw shoes in Nike and Falabella for almost 1,000,000 pesos.

This band,

BLAKK BONE BAND

Was playing in the atrium.

In the end she didn’t buy any shoes and we left at 7:30 and returned to the apt by taxi.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Friday, June 28, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 11pm, took a little longer to fall asleep as my pre-sleep routine was disrupted slightly, woke up at 6:15, got up at 7:15.

I found this song when I went to read my Bears feed at breakfast, sorry I only have this link:

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=34ef765cadf9ac7fJmltdHM9MTcxOTUzMjgwMCZpZ3VpZD0xOGMxZjdiOC02ZTQ1LTZlY2QtMTE5MC1lNmEzNmYzNDZmYTImaW5zaWQ9NTU3OA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=18c1f7b8-6e45-6ecd-1190-e6a36f346fa2&u=a1L3ZpZGVvcy9yaXZlcnZpZXcvcmVsYXRlZHZpZGVvP3E9eW91citjaGVhdGluZytoZWFydCZtaWQ9RDk5MEQ3NjZGN0ExMkE0QzFCNjVEOTkwRDc2NkY3QTEyQTRDMUI2NSZGT1JNPVZJUkU&ntb=1

I’m not a big country and western fan but it’s certainly All American. Teresa heard it and said she’d like to hear my cousin play music like this.

I left at 9am and completed my workout in Smartfit. I had little to no leaking today so that’s a plus. In Los Porteños I had a latte while catching up on the news on my cellphone. I left at 11am and returned to the apt.

I had a good game going with ONEIPAMETATO1453 until he blundered a rook. Now it’s just a matter of time. I’m up a rook and a pawn but I guess he’s going to fight on.

Troyclough has a strong attack against my king and I’ll be lucky to hold on.

I left at 2:30 and had a latte and an oatmeal cookie in Eduardo Madrid. I left at 5pm and returned to the apt.

I lost to Troyclough lowering my rating to 1578; I messed that game up in the opening. ☹

I see my pension deposits in my USAA checking account. I assume I won’t see my SS until Monday the 1^st.

I saw a few people today wearing Colombian team t-shirts so I’m guessing there was a match today. Since I never heard any cheers, I’m guessing not only did they not win but they probably didn’t even score.

I finished another lesson in my chess course and it’s getting interesting.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, waking/getting up at 6am. Wow, I slept through the night. Full disclosure: after a trip to the bathroom, I went back to bed but couldn’t fall asleep so I was up again by 6:15. Teresa got up at 6:30.

I heard in the cable car crash, one dead and 11 wounded. Did they over load the cable car with 12 people?

I see A Quiet Place: Day One (6.9) opens today in Viva Envigado’s Cine Colombia at 6:40pm and 9:20pm. Teresa believes opening day will be too crowded. I’m thinking I will wait until next week and hopefully they will have some afternoon showtimes.

I left the apt at 9:15 and met Marcos outside Tostao. He told me Johanna’s sister is in some government program where she will work in Chicago. He said it is only available for citizens of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and El Salvador and it should happen in the next couple months. I’m guessing it’s some type of manual labor like cleaning or babysitting. He left at 10:15 and I moved to the nicer café where I had a latte while starting my new My System book. While there I saw Mako with another girl, maybe another daughter? There weren’t any other dogs so she’s probably not a dog walker.

I left at 11:15 and stopped in Ara to buy a few things before returning to the apt.

I saw on Facebook a couple from the US (don’t know yet what state) that want to retire in Medellin. She, Nadine, included her email address so I sent my Tips For First Time Visitors to Medellin and gave her the name of my blog.

1:30 and I was ready to go out for coffee when the skies darkened and we had a few raindrops; I decided to wait and see if it gets worse or better. It soon turned into a drizzle.

I completed another episode of 24 and another lesson in my new chess course.

At 8pm I watched the Presidential Debate on CNN and boy was that disappointing. On one hand you have the 78-year-old lying, conman, loser, felon Trump who often didn’t answer the moderator’s question but said what he wanted to say to claim his administration was perfect and his opponent would destroy America. On the other hand, you have the 81-year-old current President Biden walked onto the stage like the old man he is, who was hoarse, stuttered, repeated multiple words multiple times and was ineffectual in countering Trump’s lies. It’s a shame that these two are our only choices for President.

I watched about half an hour of CNN’s after debate analysis and they were as stunned as I was. ☹ They need to select a better candidate at the Democratic convention or it will be 4 more years of tRump.

It rained all evening and was still raining when I went to bed at 11pm.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

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

The plan for today is Teresa has a 9:15 exercise class in Mayorca, then has to find lunch somewhere before her 1-4pm art class in Envigado so I’ll be on my own for lunch.

I have some items to recycle so I’m thinking lunch in Sarku’s then coffee in Urbania.

I left the apt at 8:15 and completed my workout in Smartfit. As I was approaching Los Porteños a couple with a large German shepherd were taking one of the last two outside tables. After a quick trip to the restroom, I asked, in Spanish of course, if the table next to them was available. The guy said, “go ahead” in perfect English. His name is Will, his daughter is Sarah and the dog is a docile Belgian Malinois named Mako (like the shark). They live a couple blocks north and he learned English by watching Youtube videos. 😊 We had a nice conversation and when they left he paid the waitress for my latte.

I drew my game vs ONEIPAMETATO 1453 because I messed up the ending, dropping my rating to 1588. Every move is important.

I left at 11am and returned to the apt. I showered and dressed and left at 12:45 and took a Didi to the mall. I recycled a few plastic bottles then went up to the 3^rd floor where I had lunch at Sarku’s, my usual teriyaki chicken with a limonada de coco. I went down to the 1^st floor to Urbania where I had a latte while solving another 3 pages of chess puzzles. I read on Facebook that one of the cable cars on the Acevedo to Santa Domingo line fell with passengers inside. No idea about injuries as yet. I left at 4pm and returned to the apt by taxi.

I watched another episode of 24 and completed another couple lessons in my new course.

Teresa returned at 5:30, excited about her new class where she’s learning to make homemade purses. She says they’re having a “faire” tomorrow where they will be displaying the things they made today.

We had rain in the evening and it was still raining when I went to bed.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 11:45pm, again at 5:45, finally waking/getting up at 6:45.

At 7am Teresa left for her Pilates class.

At 8:15 I left in shorts on a cool rain-threatening morning. At Olivenza I ordered a latte while waiting for Gleen to arrive. He complained he’s been losing all his chess games so I walked him through one giving him some guidelines and he checkmated his opponent. His rating is like 337. He demonstrated for me a game called Wordle, which was interesting as it does challenge the brain. I learned that his hernia repair was done by incision while mine was done laparoscopically. But then again, his was covered by his insurance while I paid $4,400 for mine. He told me he saw an Ikea sign in Viva Envigado’s garage. I think it’s a sign that it will be opening soon. I had the American Breakfast today but the bacon wasn't very good.

Glenn left at 10:30 and I at 11am and I stopped for 2 bags of milk at the corner grocery before returning to the apt.

Teresa called at 1pm and suggested we meet later at the new café by La Bahia where I should be able to order a sandwich. We’ll talk again in about an hour. I finally figured out the café is called Café Crear Unidos and it’s at Calle 35 Sur #47-39.

She called me at 2pm and informed me they were there having coffee and to come right away.

The Didi app couldn’t find the café nor the address so I ordered a car to take me to La Bahia. On the way I glanced at the driver’s gps and it showed us going over the bridge so I think he was headed to Sabaneta. That explains why the ride was 12,500 pesos when I was expecting a fare closer to 7,000 pesos. I got him to drive under the bridge and turn left and drop me off at La Bahia. I walked around the corner to the café.

I confirmed I had the correct address but the name was Perinto, not Crear Unidos.

They were finishing up their granola and yogurt dish so I ordered the same with a latte. There latte tasted like Parva’s café con leche, not very good.

We left about 3:30 and walked MT 2 blocks back to her apt and quickly caught a taxi back to our apt.

I’m now 13% through the new course. So far it’s pretty general (how to study) but soon it’s going to be more specific for chess.

I lost a game to Troyclough, lowering my rating to 1590. At least I know what my mistake was.

I finished reading Lee Child’s Night School on my Kindle.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Monday, June 24, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 5:45, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

Teresa had already left so I had a bowl of granola; now it’s a 45-minute to an hour wait before I go to the gym.

I received the following reply from Jose to my invitation to play chess on Tuesday, “I have been sick now for a few days. Just a passing virus I hope. I am feeling much better already but I would like to rest some more. So I think I better pass this time.”

I left the apt at 8:30 and completed my workout in Smartfit. My right knee is still a little wonky but at least there is no pain. At 78 years old I have begun to experience some noticeable balance and cardio issues but so far nothing extreme.

I was having a latte in Los Porteños when 3 young men with carryon luggage tried to get into the building next door. I’m guessing they didn’t have the passcode as they moved inside the café for a bit. When they came out they easily got into the building. A few minutes later they came out and took a table deep inside the restaurant. A DHL guy holding an envelope was ringing a bell to their building. I went inside and informed them and one of them got up right away and hustled out. I asked the others how much they pay for their AirBnB and I was told $700 for 3 weeks. I returned to the apt.

I made plans to meet Glenn for breakfast tomorrow in Olivenza at 9am.

Teresa told me that tomorrow morning she has Pilates class at San Marcos church then she’s going to meet with her mother and check out some art class. She wants to have lunch early, like 11:30 or noon, at La Bahia because it gets crowded later but I told her I doubt I’ll be hungry at that hour because I’m having a late breakfast with Glenn.

At 2:30 I was going to leave the apt for coffee but it felt so much like rain that I cancelled it. By 5pm it had changed to blue skies. ☹

I completed 3 more pages of chess puzzles. I see there are 270 pages of checkmates-in-two left so if I continue at a pace of 3 pages per day I should finish them in about 3 months. 😊

I watched another episode of 24.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Sunday, June 23, 2024

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

The plan for today is a day trip to El Retiro. Teresa tells me there is a waterfall on the way we can see. The plan is to leave here at 10am.

We left the apt at 10am and I guided Teresa to the Ayurá station the route that Marcos had showed me. It’s a little longer but we walk up a ramp instead of the steep stairs.

We took the metro to the Exposiciones station and went downstairs and someone we asked told us we had to walk a block further to catch a bus. There was a La Ceja bus about to leave but we decided to wait for the El Retiro bus. After waiting 20 minutes in the sun, when a Rionegro bus pulled we changed our plans on got on and luckily found seats.

It soon became apparent we weren’t headed out of the city via Avenida Las Palmas. We passed minorista then San Antonio Plaza, the park where the Botero statue was bombed years ago, and finally headed up a backroad toward the east. We shared one of the chicken burritos Teresa had made. We got off in Rionegro at 1pm for 23mil for both of us. It was 3-4 more blocks straight ahead to the main park. I was ready for a restroom so we stopped in the first Colombian style restaurant we found:

The bathroom was cramped, no toilet seat of course, and I couldn’t lock the door. I peed my best standing up as there was no urinal. Back outside I washed my hands and Teresa had already claimed a table. She had sancocho and I had my usual chicken breast with beans and rice and a glass of strawberry juice. The total came to 52,500 pesos, I handed the girl a 100mil bill and 500 pesos and wondered if she could make correct change. She took out some bills, hesitated, took out another one then gave me the correct change.

We walked to the other side of the park and half a block down the street we found this cute café named Candilejas.

We went to the back where we took a table with sofa and 2 chairs. I took the sofa and Teresa one of the chairs. We each had a latte and shared a slice of apple pie. The pie was only okay and the lattes weren’t hot enough but we still hung out there for a while. Teresa ordered another latte for us but hotter and a slice of tiramisu. The lattes were much better and the tiramisu Teresa liked better than I because as she said, “it isn’t too sweet”.

We left about 3:45 and heard church bells so Teresa wanted to sit in the church for a while. I guess they did the rosary but we left just before mass as it was 4pm and I’m thinking we won’t get back to the apt until 7pm.

We retraced our steps and easily found the bus station and got on the bus back to Medellin.

We got off in a light drizzle and  hustled the last block to the Exposiciones station. We just missed a train but it was only a 6-minute wait for the next one. Teresa got a seat right away but I didn’t get one until Aguacatala station. We got off at Ayura, no rain here, and returned to the apt by taxi.

It took 3 hours to get there and less than 90 minutes to return.

We had one burrito left over so Teresa asked me if I wanted it for supper. “Sure”, I said. She warmed it up (I wasn’t paying attention how but she seldom uses the microwave) and put it on a plate in front of me. I went to take a bite and she had forgotten to remove the saran wrap. 😊

I watched a couple more episodes of 24 on MTV.

Teresa used a needle and thread to sew up a fix to my gym shoes. 😊

She informed me that tomorrow morning she’s going to meet a friend from Itagui at 6am to go for a walk.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Saturday, June 22, 2024

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

I purchased a “chess course” on sale 30% off for $207.90. It’s more of a ‘what to study’ and ‘how to study’ class applied to chess. We’ll see how it goes.

https://nextlevelchesscourses.teachable.com/courses/1604843/lectures/44139462

Troyclough resigned our game in 23 moves increasing my rating to 1601. 😊 Now we’ll see how long I can keep my rating over 1600.

I left the apt at 9am and stopped at the Bancolombia window where I bought an ink correction pen for 3,700 pesos. I continued on to Parva where I completed 3 more pages of chess puzzles from my book. I left at 11:30 and bought half a liter of coconut ice cream before returning to the apt under raindrops.

I see neighbors across the street have a brown and white husky and a cat. Or maybe they’re just visitors.

Teresa is getting ready to go to Plaza Mayor to meet her sister at some type of a faire. I declined as it didn’t sound like anything I’d be interested in.

I left the apt at 1:45 for Los Porteños where I got the last outside table. They were pretty busy which is why I usually don’t come on the weekends. There was a large “monster truck” playing loud music.

The Aimchess app is back working again and I completed the 15 puzzles for today.

Teresa called and asked me to pick up a chicken breast so she can make burritos to take with us tomorrow. I left at 5pm and picked up milk and a package of chicken breasts in Ara on the way back to the apt.

Teresa left just before 6pm and I called her a Didi to take her to Plaza Mayor.

It started raining about 7pm, turned to a downpour about 8pm and changed again to a drizzle about 9pm.

Teresa returned at 9:30 (now a downpour) and reported the trip was a waste of time. Although she did mention something about a naked woman walking around with just her private parts covered, so…

It was still raining hard when I went to bed at 10pm.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Friday, June 21, 2024

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

I left the apt at 8:30 and walked to Smartfit. The water fountain is still out of order. I completed my workout (lots of noticeable leaking) and went to Los Porteños for coffee. Someone (a gringo perhaps) was sitting in my usual seat so I took the one next to it.

After her gym class Teresa hustled home to make lunch with the plan we would eat at noon and she would immediately leave for her 1pm crocheting class. About 11:30 she noticed on a paper schedule she was holding that the class she wanted is Wednesday afternoon. New plan: On Wednesday she’ll go to her gym class in Mayorca, have something to eat then head directly to her 1pm class so I guess I’ll be on my own for lunch.

I left the apt at 1:30 and went to Eduardo Madrid bakery where I had a latte and completed 3 pages of chess puzzles. In my latest game vs Troyclough I believe I have trapped his queen. Oh, and ONEIPAMETATO1543 is back.

My son gifted me a $150 Amazon gift card for Father’s Day. 😊

I watched a couple more episodes of 24.

 

EL ARROYO

Thursday, June 20, 2024

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

I left the apt at 8:30 and stopped in Ara and bought something Teresa requested.

I stopped at that Bancolombia window to print our weekly chess games. I also tried to pay for Tigo/Une but was told I have to go to Gana. I continued on to Parva where I had a café con leche. Marcos arrived about 9:15 and we talked movies and politics and he asked me some questions about our cruise from Greece to Turkey. It sounds like he wants to visit Istanbul and Israel next trip to Europe.

He left at 10am and I stayed and completed a couple more pages of chess puzzles.

At one point I made a trip to the restroom and 3 ladies sitting at a nearby table gave me the side eye. The first restroom (the men’s) was closed so I took the second. When I flushed the toilet, it was obviously already blocked and the water rose to the top of the bowl. There was no toilet paper and I took the last paper towel. I explained all this to one of the workers before I returned to my table.

I left at 11:30 and returned to the apt.

Teressa made individual ground beef lasagnas for lunch.

Troyclough blundered and resigned on the 17^th move increasing my rating to 1597, so close to 1600 again. (But the computer noted a number of poor moves I made in those 17 moves. ☹)

I left the apt at 2pm and ordered a Didi to take me to Metrosur mall. The driver got himself trapped in the left lane and when I questioned it he thought we were going to Mayorca. He admitted it was his fault and not the system and he did a legal u-turn and dropped me off at the mall. On the way to the Gana kiosk I spied the $efecty booth in a hardware store. I recall using them before. I handed her my cellphone and paid the bill and she set the phone down instead of returning it to me. Both I and another girl sitting beside her said the same thing, “you’ve got to keep your eye on her”. 😊

I went across the street to the mall and recycled a few items then went to Urbania for coffee. I started reading the New in Chess magazine I received last week and about 9 pages in I realized that the magazine was from 2021.

Where has it been the past 3 years?

I left at 4pm and decided to cut though the parking garage to Exito. The entrance between the mall proper and the parking is now closed about 2/3 by drywall. Part of the garage is also drywalled, looking like iShop will be much larger when the reopen.

I bought a few things in Exito before returning to the apt by taxi.

I started watching the TV series 24 (8.4) starring Keifer Sutherland (his father Donald died today) on Medellin TV.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, again at 6am, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

Teresa needs to buy some yarn/string in Sabaneta for something she’s crocheting. First, she’s going to a gym class in Mayorca. The plan is I’ll order a car, pick her up at Mayorca’s main entrance at 12:30, then we’ll go on to Sabaneta and have lunch (fish & chips) in Big Boy, then she can buy her thread.

I left the apt at 8:15 and walked to Smartfit. (I bring my thermos with ice and fill it up with water when I arrive at the gym.) Today the water fountain was out of order and I had to go up to the 3^rd floor to fill it. (I think they may have done that on purpose to force us into having more exercise.) I completed my workout by 9:15 and moved to Los Porteños where I had a latte. I left at 11am and stopped in Ara where I bought some apples and a bag of sugar before returning to the apt.

At 12:20 I ordered a Didi to take me to Mayorca where we picked up Teresa and went on to Big Boy in Sabaneta.

Here, I don’t think Teresa realized I was filming. 😊

We shared an order of fish & chips and we each had a Coke.

Today I ate 3 pieces of fish (too many) and some fries; the check came to 55mil, including tip.

There were still lots of fries left so I got the rest to go.

We walked 5 blocks to a store that sold thread or whatever you call it that you macrame with. Teresa found out there’s a store in Envigado and the address is on her bag. 

She found they have Friday classes from 1-4pm.

I ordered a Didi to return us to our apt. The elevator was under maintenance so we had to walk up 4 flights of stairs.

I left at 2:30 and had a latte in the Otra Parte cafe. At 4pm it started sprinkling so I quickly left and returned to the apt, the elevator was still out of order so I had to take the stairs up to the 4^th floor.  Soon it was pouring.

The Tigo/Une bill arrived today:

That should be my last bill for this month.

I noticed on Facebook that Anna Cramling received an award in the mail:

I’m sure she would rather receive a certificate congratulating her on becoming a GM (Grandmaster).

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

 Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 1:15, again at 5:15, finally waking/getting up at 6am.

I left the apt at 7:30 and took an Uber to Unicentro mall for 15,290 pesos. Traffic was relatively light and I found Jose outside the San Joaquin entrance 10 minutes before opening.

We went up to Parmessano and took our usual table. I had the French toast and a latte and he had a scrambled egg casserole.

In the food court I had the Black pieces first and I messed up the opening on the 5^th move but tried to hold on, finally getting checkmated on the 38^th move.

I had the White pieces and got an attack going but missed a queen fork that would have won me the game. ☹

It was 2pm when I took a Didi in good traffic to Viva Envigado. In Exito I paid the epm bill of 403,000 pesos. On my way up the elevator outside Exito I ran into Marta, Wilson’s girlfriend, on her way to a clothing store.

I went up to Pergamino where I had their granola with yogurt and acai berries and a small latte. I was lucky I got one of the last seats available. There was an obvious thunderstorm while I was there. I left at 4pm, bought 2 bags of milk and half a dozen bananas before returning to the apt by taxi. (Btw, the driver spoke English, having worked in the US (Boston specifically) for over 20 years.)

I watched some news on Medellin TV.

Tonight I saw 3 bats flying below at tree level.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Monday, June 17, 2024

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

Teresa wants to go to El Tesoro to see if Zara is open. First we’ll go to Santafe mall and she’ll ask someone if El Tesoro’s Zara is open and if it is we’ll take a taxi there, if not we’ll stay in SantaFe.

I left the apt at 8:15 and walked to Smartfit, which was not busy at all. I had filled a section of my notebook so I copied the names of the machines I use and their settings to a new section. I set the weights to 5# under my previous high and the treadmill to 10 minutes. I completed everything then moved to Los Porteños where I had a latte while going through my cellphone. The Aimchess app still isn’t working and I confirmed via google it wasn’t my cellphone’s fault.

I left at 10am and bought 2 bags of milk in Ara before returning to the apt.

When we were in Punta Cana I didn’t have my TENS 3000 unit with me but I did the Kegel exercises twice a day. The volume of leaking impressed on me how important the TENS unit was. Last week I tried something new, I used the TENS unit each day but skipped the Kegel exercises altogether. Friday and Saturday I was surprised because I had no leaking and thought I had finally found the solution but Sunday’s walk to Sao Paulo and this morning’s visit to the gym erased that thought.

Teresa and I left the apt at 11:40 and took an Uber to Santafe mall. Teresa asked in Zara but found that their store in El Tesoro is still closed for remodeling.

We had lunch in Crepes & Waffles. I had a bowl of their vegetable soup and a waffle with berries the latter wasn’t what I was expecting.

What's with all the flowers?

Teresa however was so impressed enough with my waffle she ordered one for herself after her salad bar. The total came to 79,750 pesos.

Teresa explored a few clothing stores then bought a few skin care items in Medipiel for 571,000 pesos ($138).

We bought some ingredients for ham sandwiches in Jumbo and returned to the apt by taxi.

The currency exchange rate today is 4,135 pesos to the US Dollar. 😊

I watched The Man From Earth (7.8) again, this time with English sub-titles.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Sunday, June 16, 2024

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

I left the apt at 8:30 and walked to Sao Paulo plaza. I bought a small bottle of vanilla extract then another container of Exania in CaFam for 62,050 pesos. I met Glenn at 9am in Olivenza. I answered a lot of his questions about chess and he gifted me a package of Dot’s original seasoned pretzel twists. I sent him a photo of our preferred brand of eggs

And he sent me an article about why the spike in pesos per dollar occurred last week.

He left at 10:45 and I left at 11am and walked back to the apt.

Teresa questioned why I spend every Sunday having breakfast with Glenn.  I told her that living in a foreign country speaking a foreign language, we have a lot to figure out and share. I mentioned how Davivienda is the best ATM to use with a US bank card. That started an important discussion about my bank accounts and what I want done when I die. She doesn’t like discussing it but it’s important. I want all my chess stuff to go to Juan Carlos Guerro Sierra in Envigado. I want all my electronics to go to Alejandro, Esmeralda’s son. The remainder of my bank balances go to Teresa but I emphasized she’ll need to move quickly to a cheaper apt (maybe with her mother?) or she’ll soon divest the balance on rent and utilities for the apt.

I agreed to go with her next Sunday to a pueblo, probably La Ceja.

Teresa gave me a shopping list of tomates, lechuga and Lonchitas Alpina lite. I looked in Ara but the line was too long. I went into Tienda D1 but they didn’t have lettuce, the tomatoes were in a bag and the Lonchitas were neither Alpina brand nor lite. In Ara I found tomatoes and lechuga but no Lonchitas and no lite and no Alpina brand. This is a photo from the end of the line but at least it went quickly because they had 3 cashiers.

I tried the pretzels but they tasted stale. ☹ In the end we both started eating some of them.

Teresa wanted to watch a movie so I put on The Man From Earth (7.8). I set the subtitles to Spanish and despite some buffering she enjoyed it. She then wanted to watch something else but I couldn’t find anything good with Spanish subtitles and no buffering. In the end I gave up.

Teresa and I watched a CNN special about Tsunamis.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Saturday, June 15, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 1am, again at 4:15 (found my cellphone hadn’t charged because we had unplugged it), finally waking/getting up at 7am.

I tuned in to Anna Cramling’s channel just as she was leaving the site; I think she got a draw in her final (9^th round) game.

I left the apt at 8:45 for the gym. After I checked in, I called Teresa and handed the girl the phone so she could hear what classes they have today. While completing my exercises one of the lady instructors holding a clipboard came up to me, pointed at me with her pen and said, “eres un papa?”. I replied, “si”. She asked, “cual is tu nombre?”. I replied, “mejor si yo escribe”. She handed me the clipboard and I wrote my name under 5 others. My best guess is it’s for some type of a raffle.

I completed my workout and walked to the park. As expected, Los Porteños was busy so I took an outside seat in Ganso y Castor and ordered a latte. This is the view from my seat:

I left at 11am and returned to the apt. Teresa informed me she would like to go to El Tesoro after lunch. We still don’t know if Zara has reopened and when I try to google it, I get all this separate information about El Tesoro mall and Zara.

We ended up not going to El Tesoro, “too crowded”, she said.

I finished watching the 8-episode series Ripley (8.2) on Medellin TV. It was very good, reminding me of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller including being in black and white.

It started raining just before 9pm and was still raining when I went to bed at 10pm.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

 

Friday, June 14, 2024

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

Teresa left at 8am for the gym and I left soon after for the mall. I printed the last chess analysis page in Auros (1 page cost me more than 2 pages at the Bancolombia window), deposited 200mil in Laura’s bank account for Smartfit, then tried to make an ATM withdrawal but the machine wasn’t working. I went upstairs in the main area of the mall and made a withdrawal and this time got lucky and got some small bills 10s, 20s, and 50s along with a few 100s.

I went down to Urbania and had a latte while completing a couple more pages of chess puzzles. I left at 10:45, bought some apples and 2 bags of milk in Exito before returning to the apt. I felt a few sprinkles as I walked into the garage.

Teresa returned at 11:30 and asked if I paid the Smartfit bill. I told her I put the receipt on the table. She said it isn’t there. I looked and it wasn’t there. Am I going crazy? I looked to see if it fell on the floor and checked other locations to see if I had not put it on the table. Finally, Teresa found it; she had put the package of chicken she just bought on top of it and it was stuck to the package. ☹

Last week when we were in Pricesmart we bought a 4-pack of pasta but Teresa was disappointed to find out it was Angel hair pasta but after trying it she found it was delicious and now prefers it.

Anna Cramling, playing in the 8^th round of the Madrid tournament, drew against a young man with a 1992 rating.

I left the apt at 1:30 and had a latte in Eduardo Madrid while solving more chess puzzles; I’m now 15% of the way through the book. Mr_Blamo finally resigned our game increasing my rating 1 point to 1589. I left at 5pm and picked up my package in the porteria on my way back to the apt. It contained 2 chess books (don’t remember ordering one of them 😊), a New in Chess magazine, April’s Chess Life magazine and an envelope from one of my pensions that contained government required notifications but contained instructions on how I can have them sent by email instead of paper. 😊 I logged in and see I’ve already set it to email delivery so hopefully I won’t have to pay to receive these in the future.

I gave Teresa the Bisquick recipe for blueberry muffins but she doesn’t want to make them because she’s afraid they contain too much fat. Now she wants to make oatmeal cookies again but continues to want to make substitutions to the recipe. ☹

The portero dropped off our epm bill of 447,000 pesos.

About 9pm the rain started and got very heavy with occasional thunder by the time I went to bed at 10pm.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, was awakened by a bird outside my window at 5:10am ☹, went to the toilet, returned to bed, couldn’t fall back asleep and got up noticing it was 6:40am. Did I fall back asleep or misread the earlier time?

Opening today in Cine Colombia is Bad Boys: Ride or Die (7.0).

I went to look at the chess games I had printed yesterday and one of them is a blank piece of paper. ☹

I left the apt at 9am wearing sandals because I’m expecting to get warm on this walk. I met Marcos at his porteria at 9:15. He guided me to the walkway on the south side of California Buffet; it’s a longer route but you’re going up a ramp instead of the steep stairs.

We walked to Mayorista where I bought 12 boxes of Chamomile tea in Badia for 130,886 pesos ($32). They gifted me a nice cloth bag to carry it in.

Right outside the store he paid for café con leches at a small cafe. He had checked the airfare to Punta Cana ($500) and said that he’d rather spend $800 and go to Europe (Spain or Portugal).

We stopped in Euro where he bought some groceries and I bought the head of lettuce Teresa requested. He didn’t want to walk back with the heavy bag so he paid for a taxi to return us to his apt. We quickly found a taxi and the driver went up to Ave Poblado and I said goodbye and got out a few blocks from my apt. Teresa called and asked me to buy soap for dishes but I thought I had one in the closet. I stopped at the apt and dropped off the tea and lettuce and checked the closet but I didn’t find the soap. I went next door to Ara where I bought a 2-pack of soap for 7,350 pesos and returned to the apt.

I see the Currency Exchange Rate is currently 4,130 pesos per US Dollar. 😊

I’m losing my game to Troyclough but am even with Mr_Blamo.

Anna Cramling is now playing against a young man with an 1877 rating.  Her record thus far is one win, one draw, and three losses. Sounds like me.

Now I’m losing my game to Mr_Blamo. ☹

I lost my game to Troyclough dropping my rating 11 points to 1588 but Mr_Blamo blundered a piece and now I’m winning that game. I’m up a rook now I just have to convert it to a win.

Anna won her game with seconds left on their clocks.

At 3pm I ordered an Uber to take us to the eps office in estadio but Teresa then corrected me that we were going to a different location. I cancelled the Uber, accepted the late cancellation fee of 2,500 pesos and ordered a Didi. We arrived at the new eps location by 3:40, 2 minutes early. I found an email from Smartit that when translated said I hadn’t paid for this month. ☹

I informed Teresa and told her I’d put money in the account tomorrow.

She was finally taken an hour later and got her stomach injection. I ordered a Didi to return us to the apt but the streets were filled with cars and our car didn’t exactly have a siren on top. Teresa wanted to have coffee and wait for traffic to clear but I had already ordered the car and he said he was here. I finally spotted him turning the corner and stopping across the street. We got in and we were off. We had a little rain as we drove south.

Traffic was very heavy:

It turned out our driver Luis worked for 40 years in the southern US and spoke good English. He took the streets and showed us the non-moving expressway a couple times when we took bridges over it. In Itagui he pointed out Parque de Chimneas but sitting in the passenger seat I couldn’t see it because the roof of the car was in the way. Traffic was crawling and it took about 45 minutes to return to Calle La Buena Mesa. We had him drop us off at Olivia’s where we had supper. We each had the lasagna but they weren’t very hot. We also shared a bottle of water for a total of 102mil. It rained a little while there but thankfully it had stopped when we left and walked back to the apt.

I finished reading Lee Child’s The Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1) on my Kindle.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS