Friday, November 29, 2024

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

Today is Black Friday, here as well as the US.

Teresa said it rained overnight. I didn’t hear anything but the street’s wet so I guess she’s right.

I bought a birthday gift for my daughter and set up a Nord VPN account for me for 2 years and 3 months for $108.92.

Teresa wants me to return to the apt right after gym so we can go to El Tesoro and she can cruise the Black Friday sales.

I completed my workout in Smartfit noting a couple of machines that I’ll increase the weight on next Monday.

I returned directly to the apt but Teresa wasn’t ready to leave.

I took a nap from approximately 10:30 to 11am.

We left the apt at 11:15 and took a Didi to El Tesoro mall. It wasn’t too busy when we arrived but it got busier throughout the afternoon.

They had this cherry blossom tunnel and I took these photos of Teresa:

She did some shopping and found a reversible (beige and white) belt in Bon Bonite for 95,900 pesos ($22) and a vest in Ana Cristina Restrepo for 233,800 pesos ($53). Medipiel had a sale so I bought another bottle of shower soap and two bottles of my skin cream. Teresa bought a few soaps and creams also and the total came to 679,950 pesos ($154).

We had lunch in a little Korean place called Bao. This is their menu:

Teresa had the chicken and I had the pork and they were both like arepa sandwiches that were very tasty but very messy to eat.

We had lattes and shared a slice of yogurt bundt cake at one of the tables outside Valentina’s café.

There was some type of sale at this store behind us called ATENEA because there was this line of teenage girls waiting to get in.

Teresa informed me that Kelly was coming to give her a massage about 5 or 5:30. It was just after 4pm so I recommended we start heading back to the apt. I made a last (or so I thought) trip to the restroom but when I returned to our table there was a young lady named Catalina sitting in my spot, with a French bulldog under the table, talking to Teresa. (Teresa told me later she’s a 40-year-old (doesn’t look it) odontologist that’s married to a 25-year-old man and she wants 4-5 kids (present count is 0)). After about 30 minutes or so another young lady arrived and took a seat next to her. Just before we left Catalina started speaking to me in very good English. She said she spent 7 years in England but I said her accent sounds more American and she confessed to visiting the US, specifically Miami and New York. She said she owns 70 acres of land in Guatape and she’s working on putting up apartment buildings.

We left them about 5pm and went to the taxi stand and it was packed (likely a 45-60 minute wait) so I made another trip to the restroom. When I returned, I stood near the taxi guy trying to hear what number they were on but no taxis were arriving. I took the last seat in the waiting area and ordered a Didi and was shocked that one was already waiting for us. We just had to move to a different exit and we were soon in the car. It took about 45 minutes for us to return to the apt for 22,100 pesos but we saved a lot of waiting time.

I gave up reading Michael Mann’s Michael Mann’s Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth's Past can Help us Survive the Climate Crisis when it got too technical.

I started reading Lee Child’s In Too Deep (Jack Reacher #19).

 

JUST FUNNY

Thursday, November 28, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 2am, finally waking/getting up at 6am.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Blogger is working again so I’ll start posting the missing days.

We looked again for a pie spatula in our vast collection of utensils in our kitchen drawer. No luck. I guess I’ll be making a trip to Home Center to buy one.

I left the apt at 7:45 and walked to the mall. I recycled a few plastic bottles and printed a few pages of chess notes and Teresa’s next doctor’s appointment. In Home Center I bought 2 9V batteries and a pie spatula for 80mil. I had a latte in Urbania until about 10am.

Glenn texted me, “Sorry, but I have to cancel today. I waited until the last moment to see if I'd feel better. Unfortunately not. I vomited while walking Bianca.” Pity.

 In Exito I bought a bar of Dove soap, lettuce, and apples and returned to the apt by taxi.

I gave Teresa the bad news and she was very concerned about Glenn, like maybe she could help him with an emergency doctor’s appointment. She might go with me on Sunday when I meet him for breakfast so she can talk to him.

I lost a close game to ONEIPAMETATO1453 lowering my rating to 1589. ☹ My accuracy the past four games ranged between 64.9 and 79.5, not good enough.

Teresa made a delicious Thanksgiving Day meal of turkey breast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and fruit salad. We’ll have pecan pie for dessert later.

I watched the Bears lose another heartbreaker to the best team in football, the Detroit Lions, 23-20. That’s their 6^th loss in a row and another the head coach appears to have botched.

Teresa has declared this rainy season to be over. Hope she’s right.

She showed me this place high up in Envigado that she wants us to visit on Saturday:

We vegged out the rest of the day.

 

JUST FUNNY

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once 4:15am, took a little while to fall back asleep, finally waking/getting up at 7:15.

Huh! I tried signing in to Blogger to post yesterday’s activity but it doesn’t react when I click “SIGN IN”. I’ll try again later.

octopusmotor outplayed me in the middle game and I resigned on the 42^nd move lowering my rating to 1601. I was winning but the computer showed the one strange move I had to make, but didn’t, to keep the advantage. Here I am again folks!

Glenn sent me this confirmation for his order of a pecan pie.

Teresa returned from the gym at 8:15 and made me breakfast. She said we had some rain overnight though I didn’t hear anything.

I checked Blogger again and this time there’s a little movement so that’s progress.

I went out on the balcony and was surprised to see this on the roof of Ara.

I took a closer photo and I only understand the first part:

I left the apt at 9:30 and completed my workout in Smartfit. I was having a latte in Ganso y Castor when I was surprised when three soldiers walked past with their semi-automatic weapons. By the time I got my camera ready they were already at the other end of the park.

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

I tried Blogger again and it’s the same as before.

I received the following message from octopusmotor, ““I think I was lucky to swindle a win there! Have a good day perhaps we can play again in the future?
best wishes Paul” I replied, “One bad rook move did me in. I’ll challenge you again after I complete therapy. 😊”

Teresa returned at 12:15 with some type of sausage, thankfully not morcilla (blood sausage), that we’ll be having for lunch. The sausage wasn’t too bad.

After lunch Blogger still isn’t working.

I left the apt at 2pm and walked down to Peccato where I had a latte. I left at 4:30 and bought a number of things for tomorrow in Mercado Madrid. I returned to the apt and Teresa was still at her art class.

It was about 5pm when I walked through the porteria and still no pecan pie. I texted Glenn and he soon replied that they delivered it already. I went back down to the porteria and it was there. I didn’t open the box but put it right in the fridge.

Teresa called at 6pm and asked me if I wanted to meet her and her gf for something to eat in Crepes & Waffles. I declined because I still felt full from lunch.

Teresa returned about 8:15 and said she was so impressed with IKEA they spent hours in just 2 rooms. She wants to sell our furniture and buy new from IKEA.  😊

She informed me there won’t be any more art classes until February.

I reminded her about the pie and she took it out right away. (Typical Teresa, she must have been a pistol around Christmas when she was a kid.) I cut a slice of pie that we shared and we both loved it as it wasn’t overly sweet like I remember in my past.

Blogger still doesn’t work and I even tried switching browsers to Chrome, no luck.

 

JUST FUNNY

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, woke up at 5:30, couldn’t fall back asleep, so I got up at 6am.

I had a problem ordering a ride share today. I started with Didi but it showed a map but nothing else. I switched to Uber and ordered a ride and it said, “12 minutes”, then it counted down to “9 minutes” then went up to “14 minutes” and the car was nowhere in my vicinity nor heading in my direction. I cancelled it and used InDrive and paid the driver 20mil cash. In Unicentro mall I first printed some chess notes in Auros then found Jose waiting for me outside the restaurant. I was almost 30 minutes late but I had kept him up to date on my progress.

We each had an egg casserole and a coffee for breakfast for about 26mil, including tip. He informed me he turned 76 yesterday. His wife turns 65 soon and he wanted to know what to do so SS won’t automatically withdraw funds for Medicare. I told him I understand there are 2 parts, the first is available for free (I have a Medicare card) but you have to pay for the 2^nd part. He thinks you have to opt out of it somehow and if he's right I did that more than 15 years ago and don’t remember it.

We moved to the food court where I had the Black pieces in the first game. I requested he play d4 and e4 as his first two moves so I could practice the Pirc Defense. I was up a pawn and he offered me a draw around move 45. I declined and he resigned on the 76^th move. That was a long game. I had the White pieces in the 2^nd game and he checkmated me on the 36^th move.

It was 1:45 when he left and I ordered a Didi and went outside to wait for it. When the driver said he arrived but I didn’t see him I texted him I was at the San Joaquin entrance and he arrived 5 minutes later.

At Viva Envigado I went up to the third floor and to the other side of the floor where I fouind Pergamino packed. I returned to the other side where I found Only Roast Beef closed. ☹ I was hungry and didn’t want to waste any more time so I went to Burger King and had a Kelce burger – Double Whopper with cheese - plus fries and a Pepsi.

I went down a level and had a latte in Santa Leña. They charge 13,500 pesos for a latte which must be about the highest price in Medellin. This is the view of the mall’s atrium from the back of the café. Obviously getting set up for Christmas:

I left at 4pm, bought a 6-pack of Coke in Exito for 11,200 pesos before returning to the apt by taxi.

I spent the rest of the evening watching the news.

I finished reading In Black and White by Paul van der Sterren. I’m now starting Michael Mann’s Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth's Past can Help us Survive the Climate Crisis.

 

 

JUST FUNNY

Monday, November 25, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once for a trip to the restroom at 3:30, couldn’t fall back asleep, got up at 4am, read for 30 minutes, went back to bed, finally awakened by Teresa at 7:30am.

When I got up at 4am, I shouldn’t have, but I looked at my game and I had the following message from Octopusmotor, “Chess after beer is never a good idea ☹”

I wrote back, “And I hear the British really like their beer. Advantage is mine 😊 because I don’t drink. Nice to meet you. Btw, I’m a 79 year old American retired in Medellin, Colombia.”

After breakfast I found this response, “Hello. I’m a 63 year old retired GP in Staffordshire UK. It’s 10:11 am here. Tasks of the day will intervene shortly.”

I’ve started…occasionally… fooling around with my jump rope to try to improve my cardio.

Teresa left for her gym class just before 8am. I left for mine at 8:45. In Smarfit I asked about my USB drive at the front desk and they had it. 😊 So all is right with the world again! I completed my workout and stopped next door at the La Casona mall but the copy center hadn’t opened yet. I guess they don’t open until 10am or maybe they’re closed on Mondays.

I stopped at the Bancolombia kiosk where I had my chess notes printed then had a latte in Ganso y Castor while starting to review my chess notes. I saw Brian with an “I” but he went inside. The restaurant was a little busy for a Monday morning. I left at 11am and returned to the apt. Teresa returned 5 minutes later just as I was about to jump in the shower. She had a bag from Mercado Madrid and she informed me she found her Alpina crema de leche.

I’m up the exchange and think I have a real chance of beating octopusmotor. 😊

I wrote up directions from the package of our Pepperidge Farm stuffing. (Did I mention Glenn gave it to me last Sunday?) I had to divide it in half then translate it to Spanish. Teresa had a problem with the name “stuffing” as she thought it would have to be somehow stuffed into our turkey breast. She just couldn’t seem to understand the concept.

I left the apt at 1:30, printed the stuffing directions, then had a latte in Los Portenos. Later in the afternoon mariachis began to appear, eventually 10 in all, and played for a birthday party next door at Bastardo.

I left at 4pm and returned to the apt.

Teresa and I watched the documentary The Lost Children (7.0) on Netflix.

 

JUST FUNNY

Sunday, November 24, 2024

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

I left the apt at 8:30 and met Glenn with Bianca in Olivenza at 9am. He will be going to Movistar in Los Molinos to order fiber optic internet for his apt. I asked him to keep me up to date on his progress. I left at 11am and walked back to the apt.

Teresa left at noon to meet a friend in Copacabana. I was invited but I have my football addiction to assuage.

I consumed about 1/3 a bag of 10oz peanuts while watching the Chicago Bears lose to the Minnesota Vikings in overtime 30-27.

I was planning on going to the mall after the game but changed my mind after the late finish.

I’m looking for a VPN that will allow me to see Netflix movies playing in the US but not Colombia. I looked at Total VPN, Nord VPN, Surfshark VPN, and Express VPN. Their price structures are tricky but I eliminated Total VPN because they have no servers in Colombia. Most have an expensive monthly plan, yearly plans and 2-year plans. I think I’m back to Express VPN that I’ve used once before which is $12.95/mo or $149.70/30 months then renews yearly. I’ll wait a couple days to see if any of my readers have an opinion.

Teresa texted me just after 6pm and told me she’s waiting for the metro. She called me just after 7pm and asked me if I wanted to meet her at McDonald’s. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of eating a bowl of cereal. She returned by 7:30.

Glenn texted me that having servers in Colombia is not important so Total VPN is back on the list.

I watched the beginning of 60 Minutes before starting my pre bed routine.

 

JUST FUNNY

Saturday, November 23, 2024

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

Teresa finally gets up at 7:45 and asks me why I’m not having breakfast with Glenn. I told her today is Saturday not Sunday. 😊

I left the apt at 8:45 in my convertible pants and t-shirt. I walked to the mall and recycled a few plastic bottles. In Auro I printed our original flight confirmation and flight change emails. I only see Teresa’s name on the flight change, is it possible they could put her on a different flight without me?

I went to the nearby Davivienda ATM and put my debit card in and right away it told me to take out my card. I did and it didn’t stop saying, “retira tu tarjeta” so I left. I went upstairs to the banking area where I withdrew 2,000,000 pesos from a Davivienda ATM for a 26mil fee. Back in Exito I quickly paid the epm utility bill in cash.

I took a seat in Urbania and started going over my chess notes. I received an email from Inter-Col asking me to post a review and it ended with this:

Now they tell me!

I left at 11am and headed to Exito. Teresa had asked me to pick up a few things but I have no idea where things are anymore since they moved everything around. I see lots of employees standing in the aisles but they work for specific brands. I’m certainly not going to corral an Exito employee and have them lead me to everything on my list. For example, in addition to displaying batteries by each of the cashiers, they used to have a display with all the batteries including the 9V that I need. They moved all of them to the cashiers and I walked down the aisle looking at each cashier’s display but didn’t see any 9V batteries. I guess I’ll have to make a special trip to Home Center. Another example, Teresa wanted me to pick up crema de leche but only the Alpina brand. This is the crema de leche display but I don’t see any Alpina:

I returned to the apt by taxi.

At 2pm I heard thunder which made me think twice about venturing out.

Teresa and I huddled under blankets because we were so cold.

Teresa had a massage from Kelly from 5:15 to 6:15.

I watched Robert Ramirez’ lesson 56 on Obstruction and lesson 57 on the Czech Pirc defense and I’m going to make some notes on the latter.

I watched the first half of Contact (7.5), the best half, with no intention of seeing the 2^nd half.

 

JUST FUNNY

Friday, November 22, 2024

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

I’m trying out for the first time my new chess defense, called The Pirc, against Troyclough, we’ll see how it goes.

It’s 7:15 and I was just thinking about leaving for the gym when a drizzle started. I soon gave up, did a few exercises with my 7# dumbbell and took my shower.

By the time I left the apt at 8am the rain had nearly stopped.

I printed some chess notes at the Bancolombia kiosk then took a seat outside Los Portenos. We had another shower but it didn’t last long. I completed some more chess puzzles and continued a few of my ongoing online games. I left at 11am and returned to the apt.

We left at 11:30 and took a Didi to Las Americas on Avenida Ochenta. I directed the driver to enter the complex then Teresa got off the phone with Esmeralda and clarified we were going to the Las Americas Auna in Arkadia. ☹  The driver nicely accepted the news and drove us next door to Arcadia and I tipped him 4mil.

Teresa went up to the clinic and I went up to the 5^th floor where I had some chess notes printed. I met her outside Crepes & Waffles and there was only a short wait for a table. She had their salad bar and I had the chicken, cheese and broccoli crepe.

Teresa looked in a couple stores then we went across the street to Pricesmart. We picked up a few things, the main things for me were a new bag of prunes and a 2-pak of Smuckers strawberry preserves. I paid 245,700 pesos ($56.50) for everything and we packed it all into my Skechers thin nylon backpack. We were met by a guy at the top of the stairs that took our cart down the escalator and over to a taxi. But when he took the backpack out of our cart the Smuckers fell out and smashed on the concrete floor. He took my receipt and went back upstairs and brought a replacement. Btw, this is the first time I’ve seen an emergency tire saver on a taxi. We returned to the apt by taxi in heavy traffic for 17,500 pesos.

We shared the elevator with Doyle and we learned he uses a cane because he has chronic vertigo.

More rain in the evening but it had stopped by the time I went to bed.

 

JUST FUNNY

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 1:30am, finally waking/getting up at 5am.

Our bathroom faucet is no longer attached to the sink. ☹ Teresa thinks there is a part she can buy in Home Center to fix it. Call me skeptical.

We Live in Time (7.3) is now playing in Cine Colombia.

I had a latte outside Ganso y Castor where I met Denand from The Netherlands and his Spanish tutor Caro. I had an interesting discussion with the former but he’s probably leaving Medellin soon.

I left the apt at 12:45 and took a Didi to Santafe mall. This is the atrium set up for Christmas:

That’s a skating rink in the middle.

 I found Teresa outside Zara. We went up to Crepes & Waffles but found a long line. We were on our way to J&C Delicias when Teresa shocked me by suggesting we go to McDonald’s. There we encountered the new (okay, a few years old) display (3 of them) ordering system but there was a worker there to assist us.

Teresa ordered some type of burger combo with a Coke Zero and I ordered a quarter pounder with cheese and a regular Coke for a total 52,700 pesos. We watched the monitor for our turn number which only took a few minutes. Teresa ate half of her burger and a few fries and I finished mine with a lot of fries.

I asked a worker there if there was a store where I could print some pages from my USB drive and they pointed me to the other side of the store to Global “something” where I printed 7 pages for 3,500 pesos. It’s beginning to sink in that the standard price is 500 pesos per page.

Teresa bought 2 sports bras in M&D for 181,299 pesos ($41) and was gifted two others. She checked something in Medipiel but it wasn’t on sale so we left empty handed.

We went down to Valentina’s where we had lattes and I started checking my chess notes.

At 3:45 we left and stopped in Dollar City where Teresa bought a new toilet brush and something else I didn’t notice.

When we left the mall we were surprised it was raining, but lightly.

After a 15-minute wait we caught a taxi back to the apt.

I updated my chess notes and watched some news.

I lost a game to Troyclough where he checkmated me in 45 moves, dropping my rating to 1618. I was up 2 pawns but he beat me in the endgame. I guess I got lazy because I certainly had lots of missed opportunities. I have two other games in progress that aren’t going well either.

My brother texted me, “Cousin Dave hit by a car in a McDonald's parking lot. Concussion but should be out of the hospital today.”

We had a little rain in the evening.

 

JUST FUNNY

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, again at 5:45am, couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up.

Teresa soon got up and made me a quick breakfast. Btw, my typical breakfast is 2 scrambled eggs and half a toasted sesame seed bagel with strawberry preserves.

Teresa left for her 7:15 gym class and I left at 8:30 for mine. In my right pocket I had my set of keys to our apt. In my left pocket I had 3 peanuts for squirrels, my USB drive with 4 pages of chess notes, and 12,000 pesos for my coffee, 2,000 pesos for my chess notes, plus 2,000 in case the chess notes cost a little more.

I completed my workout in the gym but after I found my USB drive wasn’t in my crowded left pocket. Did I forget it? Did it fall out when I removed the peanut to put in the tree? Did it fall out somewhere in the gym? ☹

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor while workers were busy putting up Christmas decorations.

Brian from Florida took a seat nearby and started working on his computer.

I left at 10:45, stopped by the “peanut” tree and the peanut was still there but I didn’t see my USB drive on the ground. Back in the apt I didn’t see it anywhere; (I’ll check with the gym on Friday.

Teresa handed me an envelope from SS for her mother. It’s the same Proof of Life form I returned September 17^th. This one was date October 24^th so I don’t know what’s going on. I notified Teresa about the situation and either we should: 1) send it again for another 235,000 pesos or 2) wait until January to see if she gets her SS check. I recommended the latter but it’s MT’s decision.

I asked Teresa where we’re going for her party and she called someone then wrote down Calle 32B Sur. I asked where the rest of the address is, like the Carrera. She then said it’s at Parque San Marcos. I know the park across from the San Marcos church is called something else like Fecund Park. I entered it in Didi and found Parque de Enamorada, San Marcos and Teresa said that’s it.

At 1:30 we took a Didi with another strange driver. This one, Sebastian, had the air conditioning but was wearing a heavy jacket. I didn’t protest because our ride was so short, a place a couple blocks from what I call the bat tunnel park. The place is listed on Didi as C.E.C y Vida San Marcos. We went down a couple ramps to an open space with a kitchen/restaurant on the far side. They had portable tables set up with plates each having some simple snacks on it. I took a seat around the corner to wait out their party. I heard a lot of squawking and saw these green parrots in the trees:

You can try to zoom in to see them but I apologize for the rude ending; my mistake.

I wondered which is nosier, green parrots or Macaws. This is google's answer:

Teresa's latest purse:

I received this email from Inter-Col (translated to English for your convenience) “Good afternoon, Please accept our warmest regards. We hope you are well. The purpose of this email is to inform you that, unfortunately, we have not been able to request an appointment for the foreigner's ID card with Migración Colombia. This is because they have recently changed their platform and now the process is only done by phone. However, we have had difficulties communicating, since Migración does not answer calls. Below, we attach the phone numbers in case you wish to try to schedule the appointment directly with them. We appreciate your understanding and wish you a happy day.”

At 3:30 it started raining then became a downpour and it got really cold. Teresa called and canceled her 5:40 appointment. The rain lessened a little at 5pm and we took a Didi back to the apt.

I haven’t mentioned this in a while but my lesions are back. Teresa thinks it’s connected with the cold but I’m not sure. After a year of them I just want them to go away.

I edited my chess notes again against Robert Ramirez’ Lessons on the Pirc Defense on Youtube.com and also wen through a new lesson of his, Lesson 52 on Outposts.

 

JUST FUNNY

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, woke up but didn’t get up about 2am, waking/getting up at 6am. One strange thing; sometime during the night I heard someone say, “Terry”, and I said, “Yes”. I opened my eyes but no one was there so I must have dreamt it. 😊

We left the apt at 9am and Elson was our Didi driver. I’ll try to describe him: long black hair, 2 nose rings, a skull ring on one of his fingers (couldn’t identify the other ring), a chain bracelet plus numerous thin plastic bracelets on his left wrist and tattoos covering both arms and hands except his left hand (I guess he hadn’t gotten to that spot yet).

We were twenty minutes early for my appointment so Teresa went to O’Cake because she was hungry. I took a seat in the general waiting area and was finally taken about 30 minutes after my 9:20 scheduled appointment. All my blood test results were good and Dr. Castano did an ultra sound on my abdomen. All is good. The cost was 290mil and my next appointment is Tuesday, May 20^th at 9am.

It was a 10-minute wait for the elevator and I stopped on the 6^th floor at Urogine where I got my blood pressure taken – 136/83. When I asked google if this was a good reading for a 79-year-old man it replied, “No, a blood pressure of 136/83 is not good for a 79-year-old man.” But then it said, “We recommend a systolic blood pressure goal of <140 in patients less than 80 years of age and a systolic pressure of 140-150 in patients 80 years of age or older.” Well, I’m close to 140 systolic and close to 80 so maybe that’s close to acceptable.

I waited for Teresa outside H&M and at noon we went to J&C Delicias for lunch. I had the chicken teriyaki and she had salmon.

I told Teresa about the change in our Avianca flight and she told me she has a massage appointment with Kelly this afternoon at 4:30.

While we were there it started raining and got quite cold. I was so glad I had brought a jacket. It seemed to take forever to catch a waitress to give us our check as we were freezing to death. (Is Bogota going to be cold like this?)

We had lattes (to warm up) and shared a slice of cake upstairs in Valentina’s.

We left at 2:30 and luckily there was no line for a taxi. When we got in, the driver had the A/C on. I asked him to turn it off and he motioned that he needed it for the windshield. I reached over and turned off the A/C and turned on the fan and hit the button for the defroster. We returned to the apt for 18,300 pesos and I gave the driver 20mil and told him to keep the change.

I felt I was in a losing position against octopusmotor (1681) but I managed a draw increasing my rating 1 point to 1626. Now I get the White pieces against him.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 resigned our game increasing my rating to 1630. My rating has never been this high before, now we’ll see if I can keep it over 1600.

 

JUST FUNNY

Monday, November 18, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, woke up but didn’t get up about 3am, got up about 5am, was awakened by Teresa opening a drawer at 6:30 so I got up.

After lunch, Teresa wants us to go to Santafe mall.

I left the apt at 8am and completed my workout in Smartfit. I stopped next door at the La Casona mall to print a page of chess notes but the copy center had yet to open for the day (it was just before 9am). I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for a little over an hour. I stopped at the Bancolombia kiosk and had my chess page printed for 1 mil before returning to the apt.

Teresa informed me about her plans for Wednesday. Something about after gym, I’ll meet her somewhere for lunch and while she’s in art class I’ll have a café con leche nearby. After class we’ll take a Didi to Las Americas in Belen where she has a doctor’s appointment. I’m sure we’ll be discussing this again.

Just for grins, I did a quick search on Booking.com and found lots of 5* (they’re now referred to as 8/10) resorts for our dates in Punta Cana, so maybe the advice is to not do your search too early (more than 6 months before).

Just before noon we received a call that changed our plans. Dr. Castano won’t be available Thursday so my appointment has been changed to tomorrow at the same time, 9:40am.

I sent Jose a text that I won’t be available tomorrow, and since I’ll be going to El Tesoro, Teresa decided to go with me tomorrow instead of us going to Santafe today.

I left the apt at 2pm and had a latte in Los Portenos while editing my chess notes. I received an email from Avianca changing our flight times. Now we’re leaving Medellin at 9:53 am and returning from Bogota at 2:33pm. Also, they appear to have charged me for 2 carry-ons so Teresa will take her carry-on and I’ll take my backpack.

I left at 4pm (and it chose that exact minute to start raining) and stopped in Ara for milk and kitchen gloves.

The rain finally stopped around 6pm.

I watched the news for the rest of the evening.

 

JUST FUNNY

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 2:15am, again at 5:15, finally awakened by Teresa at 7:15.

At 8:15 we took a Didi to Hija Mia Nomada in Manila, Poblado. Teresa was in her gym clothes as she planned to go to a class in Mayorca afterward. I was in shorts and a t-shirt and, so early in the cool morning, would have been more comfortable had I worn pants. Teresa had eggs & avocado on toast and I had French toast.

This is the newest purse she’s making, now in the earliest stage.

Btw, the Mrs. is looking good!

These are other purses that Teresa made previously:

Troyclough was winning our latest game (even though I was up the exchange) with a passed pawn on the 6^th rank protected by 2 bishops and a rook. About 10 moves later he blundered positionally and after a tactical combination he resigned on the 45^th move, increasing my rating to 1625.

Teresa had another latte before we left and the total check came to 134,750 pesos ($30). We returned to the apt by another Didi. (Our driver’s name was Yimi, they sure have some strange names here.)

Teresa changed her mind and didn’t go to the gym class as she wasn’t sure what time it started.

I watched the Bears lose a close one to the Packers, 20-19. I finished my large bag of peanuts and got halfway through one of my new 10 oz. bags.

I looked for 2024’s The Equalizer 3 on Netflix but only found 2014’s The Equalizer so we watched that and Teresa enjoyed it so I got away with it. 😊

I watched most of an expanded episode of 60 Minutes.

 

JUST FUNNY

Saturday, November 16, 2024

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

I have a 9am haircut appointment so I left the apt at 8:45 in a Didi. I took a Didi to Todo Drogas where I purchased my medications for the next four weeks. I walked to the copy center where I had a couple chess pages printed. I continued on to the used book store where I exchanged my Code Girls paperback for Kite Runner, another #1 New York Times Bestseller. (Btw, I noticed three books about Donald Trump.) I stopped at a small bakery where I had a churro (not so good) and a café con leche that was more like leche con café than the other way around. I made plans to meet Glenn for breakfast tomorrow then walked back to the apt.

I left the apt at 2pm and walked to the mall in a light drizzle. I recycled a 9V battery, printed another set of chess notes and had a latte in Urbania.

Here is the atrium, decked out for Santa Claus

and we haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet! They’re having some sort of a fair and I spotted a Cinnabon booth. 😊 I bought a large carton of eggs before returning to the apt by taxi. Teresa asked me to go to Antonio’s and buy a half liter of coconut gelato and half liter of pistachio. I did and we had pancakes with bananas and gelato for supper.

Teresa wants me to take her to Hija Mia Nomada for breakfast tomorrow so I cancelled my breakfast with Glenn.

 

JUST FUNNY

Friday, November 15, 2024

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

I’m finally playing someone about my own rating, octopusmotor rated 1639. I have the Black pieces so we’ll see how it goes.

I left the apt at 7:30 and completed my workout in Smartfit. In Ganso y Castor I was having a latte when I met Brian from Florida. His family is originally from El Salvador so I told him I saw the CNN special last night where they were showing the maximum-security prison in El Salvador. He is renting an AirBnB in the park and when I enquired, he said they go for $700-$800 a month. I informed him this is the rainy season here but it should be ending soon.

Teresa called and asked me to buy “jabon de coco” in Tienda D1. Luckily, I had 5mil with me, intending to print some blog pages for our embassy visit. I paid for my latte and stopped in Tienda D1 and pretty quickly found the jabon de coco,it only cost 1,950 pesos and luckily the line wasn’t long. I returned to the apt. When I handed her the bar she told me she wanted “liquido”. Well then you need to tell me that.

I’ve decided to learn a new defense against e4. I’ve been playing the Scandinavian, now I’m going to consider switching to the Pirc so I’m looking at lessons on Youtube.

I left again at 1:30, printed some blog pages and a first draft of Pirc notes and had a latte in Los Portenos while completing a couple more pages of chess puzzles. I suddenly realized I was out of bagels so I went to Eduardo Madrid bakery where I found a sleeve of 5 bagels. I bought those and had a latte for a couple hours. When I heard a lot of squawking outside, I took this video of more Macaws hanging out in the trees across the street.

Teresa called at 3:45 and asked me to pick up eggs and plantains in Mercado Madrid. I left at 4pm in a light drizzle and returned to the apt. I explained I only had two hands and since it was raining, I wasn’t going to go out again to the grocery store. Sorry! Tomorrow afternoon.

Kelly arrived about 6:15 to give Teresa a massage and it was about 6:30 when I noticed it was raining but it didn’t last very long.

I heard some cheering outside and I had seen a few people wearing Colombian jerseys today. I checked my cellphone and Uruguay defeated Colomba 3-2.

 

JUST FUNNY