Friday, February 21, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 1am, waking up at 6am and getting up at 6:45.

I did my usual Google Flight search to Chicago and the price has finally come down to a much more reasonable $1294 roundtrip for two (minus taxes, baggage and select seating fees). I texted Marcos and he recommended I buy while the price is low. I’m busy now so we’ll see where it is tomorrow and/or Sunday.

I see Conclave (7.4) is now playing in English in Viva Envigado at 3:40pm. I’ll try to see it tomorrow afternoon.

Teresa’s plan for today is to leave the apt at 12:30 pick up MT and go to Santafe mall for lunch in Crepes & Waffles.

I left the apt at 8:30 and when I arrived in Smartfit I found Michael at my first machine, the Butterfly. He told me he’s very happy because his 3 new debit cards arrived in Florida and he has all their contact information and he thanked me for my advice. We shared the Butterfly until it was time for me to move on. Today I felt a few tweaks on the Back Extension so I’m going to move the weight down from 80# to 70# for a while, but I’m on track to raise the weight on a few other machines come Monday.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for an hour before returning to the apt.

Interesting that ONEIPAMETATO1453 hasn’t challenged me to another game.

Laura called and she’s late with something (doctor’s appointment?) so we’re going to meet at 1pm instead of 12:30.

Teresa just notified me Esmeralda’s mother passed away today so Teresa wants me to accompany her today or tomorrow to a special mass.

I overheard Teresa talking to someone but the only word I understood was “cremation”. She then called Alejandro and I heard, “no hay una misa?” Then the conversation continued for quite a while longer. It appears we will be going to something later.

We left at 12:45, picked up MT at her apt and continued on to Santafe mall. My driver spoke English so I told him a few jokes in English plus the only one I know in Spanish.

We quickly got a table in Crepes & Waffles but had to wait 20 minutes for Laura to arrive from wherever she was. I had the same bread bowl I had in Arkadia and Teresa and I shared a bottle of water. Laura picked up the check which was nice of her.

They went shopping while I went down to Valentina’s for a latte. There were 3 empty tables for 2 so I took the middle one figuring when the ladies arrive, we could put two tables together. In the meantime, 5 black gringos came in and split themselves between two tables. When I caught their attention, I motioned I could move over and they could take the other two tables. The guy who saw me agreed but as he got up two Colombian men came in and took one of the empty tables.

The ladies returned by 4pm but they didn’t want to stay so we quickly caught a taxi outside to return us to Envigado.

I went next door to Ara and bought 2 bags of milk.

I checked Google Flights and our flight is now $1466. Now I’m wondering if I misread it before, next time it’s so low I’ll take a screenprint.

I just found I still have my jokes files, they didn’t get deleted like I thought.

Teresa and Laura both got massages from Kelly.

At 7:30 we had a shower but it only lasted 15 minutes.

Teresa gave me the name, Parroquia Cristo Rey, and address, Carrera 53 #1 sur-11, of the church where mass will be tomorrow for Esmeralda’s mother. Alejandro will let us know tomorrow what time it will be.

I had oatmeal for supper then at 8:40pm Laura states that she wants to go out for chicken wings. I told Teresa I’m full and not interested in going out again. They left at 9pm just as it started raining so I made sure they had the large umbrella. I went to bed at 10pm and I heard them return before I fell asleep.

 

EL ARROYO

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, waking/getting up at 6am and it’s raining. Did I sleep through the night? I don’t remember getting up.

The rain stopped by 7am so we’ll see if the skies clear or not.

The skies were pretty clear when I left the apt at 9am. I met Marcos at Tostao where we had small café con leches. Marcos is 73 years old and he complained about the dog he’s sharing with his kids who live in Sabaneta. He said he has to walk it 5-6 times a day so it can pee and poop, also it pulls him when they are walking. I told him about how dogs pee a little to mark their territory so maybe it doesn’t have to be walked so often. I suggested he hire a dog walker – he said they only cost something like 50mil a month. I also suggested he check the internet and see if an 18-month-old dog can still be trained to heel then he could pay someone to train it. He'll be taking the dog to the groomer soon so he’ll ask them for references.

He left at 10am and I moved to Peccato where I had a latte for 8mil while working on a couple chess puzzles.

I’m hooked on Jimmy Buffett’s song Margaritaville, playing it all the time on my iPod and trying to memorize the words.

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=8ec015bcac4117e4510e39f872f1a93657a3559ae5d768657af73e412647790cJmltdHM9MTc0MDAwOTYwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=10418f54-95d6-6388-05cf-9ad2947962f1&u=a1L3ZpZGVvcy9yaXZlcnZpZXcvcmVsYXRlZHZpZGVvP3E9amltbXkrYnVmZmV0dCttYXJnYXJpdGF2aWxsZSZtaWQ9MDA1NjAxNDRBQTkwODc4MUQ1NkEwMDU2MDE0NEFBOTA4NzgxRDU2QSZGT1JNPVZJUkU&ntb=1

I’ve recorded the specifications for my 5-year-old notebook computer as I’m looking for a laptop already installed with Windows 11. I don’t like my notebook keyboard as it’s mushy for typing. I’m also going to need 1 terabyte of SSD storage as my two current internal drives are about 80% full at 600GB.  I’ll then gift this notebook to Alejandro. If I find one online I can send it to my brother to pick up later or maybe I’ll just stop in Best Buy when I’m in Chicago.

At noon I had a Didi take me to the clinic Medical on Calle 7 where I found Teresa waiting for me. We had a nice lunch in Boulevard café for 29,000 pesos each ($7). Teresa went into the doctor’s office while I remained in the café. She returned about an hour later and reported all is well but she should change her implants by the end of this year.

We returned to the apt by taxi.

Laura texted Teresa that she missed her flight in Bogota and the next one is at 5pm.

Teresa made lasagna for tonight when Laura arrives.

Teresa asked me to buy a loaf of pan de maiz (corn bread) in Eduardo Madrid or Parva. Eduardo Madrid didn’t have it and neither did Parva so Teresa switched to Pan Aliñado which I later translated to seasoned bread.

I hadn’t been in the area in a while and I now see Na Pizza has changed their name to NY Pizza.

Back at the apt I took out the garlic spread but Teresa decided it’s to old to continue using. We bought it years ago in Pricesmart and would have used it up by now if Teresa would let me know ahead of time when she making pasta plus I could find the pan de maiz she always insisted we use for garlic bread. Now I know we have another bread we can use.

We were wondering when Laura would arrive and finally decided we’d wait until 8pm and if she wasn’t here by then we would start eating without her. I had just dug into my lasagna when Teresa reported she was downstairs.

I went down and she said it was 170mil which I gave to Manuel. I asked Laura why so expensive and she said it was 150mil and she tipped him 20mil – yeah, with my money.

We finally sat down and had lasagna with bread.

Laura gifted me two t-shirts, one with COLUMBIA on the back. Teresa wanted to pronounce it COL OO MBIA with a Spanish produced ‘u”. 😊

 

EL ARROYO

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

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

The street is a little wet so we must have gotten a little rain overnight.

I left the apt at 8am and completed my workout in Smartfit. I forgot to mention last Monday I increased the weights on the Back Extension machine to 80# which I repeated today.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for an hour but when I left at 10am it was in a light drizzle. (I should have left 5 minutes earlier.) Of course, when I returned to the apt I took a shower right away.

I just learned that Laura is coming in tomorrow but Vicky isn’t coming in until Sunday. (I warned Laura because Vicky is a foreigner it might take her 2-3 hours to clear Immigration.)

Teresa returned at 12:15 and we took a Didi to Arkadia mall. We had lunch in Crepes & Waffles, Mexican chicken for her and chicken & broccoli bread bowl for me. We also shared a bottle of water for a total of 74,050 pesos ($18) including tip.

I lost another game to ONEIPAMETATO1453 lowering my rating to 1556.

We went up to Auna clinic where Teresa got a doctor’s appointment for tomorrow at noon in Clinica Medellin.

(At one point we’re standing in front of the elevator on the 4^th floor when a down elevator arrives and Teresa starts to get on when we need to go to the 5^th floor. That almost turned into an international incident about who was right.)

We went down to the 3^rd floor where she killed 30 minutes in Falabella searching, unsuccessfully, for inexpensive gym t-shirts.

We went into Decathlon where I (finally) found the Quechua Modular Hiking Pants in my size.  A little expensive at 295mil ($72) but it’s worth it to have a backup pair. (The original pair I bought were only 115,000 pesos.)

We went across the street to Pricesmart and as soon as we stepped inside Teresa spotted this Kitchen Aid Full-Size Dish Drying Rack for 239,900 pesos ($58.50) that she had to have.

We also picked up 3 frozen turkey breasts and a pack of blueberries and who was in front of us in line but Ramon, Gloria’s husband and owner of Antica Pizza. His cart was loaded, including 6 large cans of Hunt’s Tomato Paste, 3 packages of cranberries, pepperoni, and lots of other stuff. He said he does this twice a week. Our bill came to 447,000 pesos ($109).

Downstairs getting in our taxi we saw Ramon packing everything on his motorcycle.

We returned to the apt by taxi for 17,300 pesos.

I watched To Catch a Killer (6.6) on Netflix. I think I saw it in the movie theater some years ago.

I started reading my new Kindle book Nothing to Lose (Jack Reacher #12) by Lee Child.

 

EL ARROYO

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

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

Wow, finally a day that isn’t overcast.

At 7:25 I started the process of ordering a Didi. My car arrived 8 minutes later and I arrived at Unicentro mall just a minute before they opened at 8am.

For a change today, in Parmessano I ordered ala carte scrambled eggs with Italian sausage but those sausages turned out to be pretty small. I showed Jose an evaluation discrepancy in a Chess.com game analysis and he was just as surprised as I was.

I had the Black pieces in the first game and Jose blundered a Bishop on the 32^nd move and immediately resigned. That’s good because it isn’t quite 11am yet.

In the second game I blundered a piece early but held on until the 42^nd move before resigning.

It was only 1:30 when I took a Didi to Viva Envigado. I had the granola with yogurt in Pergamino then went downstairs and had a latte in Urbania.

I withdrew 2,000,000 pesos from a Davivienda ATM hoping for small bills but they were all 100s. ☹

I left at 3:30 and returned to the apt by taxi.

About 4pm Teresa got a call from her mother who wanted to get out of the apt but I had already changed into my “home clothes” and didn’t feel like going out again.

I watched Trial by Fire (7.1) on Netflix.

I was recharging my phone when Teresa called me several times but I couldn’t answer. At 8pm when I realized what had happened, I called her and she was still with her mother in IKEA. She offered to bring me some food but I declined as I had already had an apple with peanut butter.

Teresa returned at 9pm. Tomorrow she wants to go to the Auna clinic in Arkadia mall to make a doctor’s appointment (hard to get them on the phone). I told her I want to look for another pair of my Quechua Modular Hiking Pants in Decathlon (online they are out of stock in my size). I also checked Pricesmart and it appears they have our Butterball chicken breast so we’ll probably cross the street and buy a few. And we should buy more eggs because with Laura and Vicky arriving tomorrow, I’m sure we’ll be eating more of them.

I finished reading Lee Child’s Bad Luck and Trouble (Jack Reacher #11) on my Kindle.

 

EL ARROYO

FUNNY STORY

The Helsinki-Toronto flight carried 400 passengers but only had 200 meals onboard due to an airline error, leaving the crew in a tricky situation. Fortunately, a clever flight attendant devised a brilliant plan.

About 30 minutes after takeoff, she made an announcement:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m not sure how this happened, but we have 400 passengers and only 200 lunches. If anyone is willing to forgo their meal for another passenger, they will receive unlimited complimentary wine for the duration of the flight!”

Six hours later, she made another announcement:

“Ladies and gentlemen, if anyone has changed their mind, we still have 200 meals available!”

Moral of the story: Wine lovers have truly generous and kind hearts! 😊

Monday, February 17, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm (raining), got up once at midnight, again at 2am (more rain), and 5am, finally waking/getting up with Teresa at 7am (more rain).

I left the apt at 9am and completed my workout in Smartfit. A couple of machines were busy and I had to wait my turn for them.

After, I had a latte in Ganso y Castor leaving at11am and returning to the apt. Now it’s mostly sunny, hard to believe it rained on and off all night.

For some reason I couldn’t send the Pergamino video to my Hotmail email account earlier but I just sent it to my yahoo email account and now it’s posted to my blog. So, the eight of you who have already read it can go back if you want to see the short video.

To celebrate their 7^th anniversary, ChessMood’s courses are free this week. I set up an account and watched one of Neil Studer’s narrated games.

Teresa returned at 12:30 from getting her nail repaired and a stop in Ara.

I left the apt in a few raindrops at 2:45 and walked to Eduardo Madrid bakery. I had a latte and at 5pm I paid 46,200 pesos ($11) for my latte, 10 English muffins and a slice of carrot cake to go. The muffins were in a large box with 9 in the first layer and one in the 2^nd layer. Maybe in the future I should order 18 to fill the box, or at least the 2^nd layer.

Laura texted me this place where she wants us to have dinner 8pm Sunday night.

I don’t know why she always picks the most expensive places and so late.

I finished season 2 of The Night Agent on Netflix.

 

EL ARROYO

VALUE STORY

A father said to his son, "You graduated with honors. Here is a Volkswagen beetle that i bought many years ago ... It is over 50years old, but before I give it to you, take it to a dealership downtown and ask how much there are offering you."

The son went to the dealership, came back to his father and said, "They offered me $10,000 because it looks very used." The father said, "Take it to a pawn shop."

The son went to the pawn shop, came back and said, "They only offered me $1,000 because they say it is too old."

Finally, the father asked his son to take the car to a classic car club and show it there. The son took the car to the club, came back and said, "Some people at the club offered me $100,000! because it is a very rare car and sought after among the members."

The father said to his son, "I wanted you to understand that the right place appreciates you in the right way. If they don't value you, don't be angry, it just means you're in the wrong place. Those who know your value are the ones who truly appreciate you. Never stay in a place where they don't recognize your value!"

Sunday, February 16, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 2am, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

I left the apt at 8:30 and listened to Margaritaville 4 times on my iPod on the way to Sao Paulo Plaza. Glenn soon arrived with Bianca and I asked him for a health update.

He had his eyeglass prescription changed but the optician only changed one lens and he had to return to have the other changed. He had 2 skin biopsies taken, one on his shoulder and the other on his face so now he’s waiting on the results. He still hasn’t made an appointment with a gastroenterologist, first he has to save up the cash to pay for it.

I listened to Margaritaville again on the way back to the apt, stopping off at a corner grocery store to buy a bag of milk.

We left the apt at 2pm and took a Didi to El Correo in Provenza. Teresa had their chicken and a baked potato as a side and I their ribs with a baked potato. I told her that in the States we have baked potatoes with tougher skins that don’t fall apart when you crack them open. She said her chicken was delicious so I guess we can return. I ate most of the ribs but got the last three to go. The check came to 184,976 pesos ($45).

We walked down to the end of the block, turned north on Carrera 33, two blocks to Calle 10, turned left and walked down to Carrera 37 and went south a block to Pergamino. Besides their patio they have tables in the closed off street and we got the only one available in the street. As soon as I sat down Teresa pointed to one that had just come available on the patio. I had stay until I had saved it for us. I went inside and ordered two hot (I remember when you didn’t have to say that) lattes and a macadamia cookie. It took about 15 minutes for our order to arrive but we were in no hurry.

We left at 4:30 and met Esgar (not a typo) in his Didi at the corner of Calle 10 and Carrera 37 to take us back to our apt.

I watched a couple more episodes of The Night Agent on Netflix.

We had some rain in the evening and it was still raining when I went to bed at 10pm.

 

EL ARROYO

Saturday, February 15, 2025

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

Saturday breakfast means blueberry pancakes with real Canadian maple syrup. Yum!

I planned a sequence of moves vs ONEIPAMETATO1453 but then I omitted one of them on execution. I’m still up a pawn but I no longer have the momentum. ☹

I left the apt just before 9am and walked to the mall. In the basement I recycled a Smucker’s glass jar then cut through the parking area (nearly full) to the furthest escalator and up to Urbania. I had a latte while I waited for Teresa. She called at 11am to inform me she was on her way. Fifteen minutes later I met her in H&M where we picked out two sleepers and a set of 3 socks. Across the street we had lunch in La Bahia for 19mil each. Back in Exito we found the perfect baby shower bag but it was slightly ripped. We found another but it was a bit too large, then I got the idea and we bought tissue paper to line it with. We checked out and Teresa called Pepo’s Cake and reserved a cake. We caught a taxi outside and he dropped me off at the cake store where I bought a 10-slice (supposedly) tres leche cake for 35mil. Back in the taxi he took us to our apt for a total of 9mil.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 and I agreed to a draw on the 53^rd move lowering my rating to 1568.

I tried Didi and Uber for the address we were given – suffice it to say it’s high in the mountains (Lomo de Escobero) of Envigado.

We left at 3pm and soon there was a taxi outside the porteria for us. (Daniela had called ahead and ordered it for us and gave him directions.) It was a 40-minute drive up the mountains, well passed Donde Albiero restaurant and I think our driver filled Teresa’s head with the dangers of using Didi, Uber, and InDrive on the way. I paid the driver 32mil and we got out in a light drizzle.

The party was at the grandfather’s house in an area where we had to be allowed in by a security guard. (His son’s Juan and Jorge have houses nearby.) The house is 30 years old but has been recently renovated, I think they covered over the exposed brick with drywall. Teresa and I took a seat on one end of a couch. We were brought a drink, our choice of wine, Coke, or water.

Lots of talking, joking and laughing.

Here’s Laura, Albiero, and Daniela sitting together.

This is Daniela’s 9-year-old daughter Amelia

Later Juan and his older brother Jorge took me on a tour of the house. At the end of the house we looked out a door and they told me what it looked like when they were kids. They had a pond that they stocked with 500 trout – fingerlings? that they would feed every day until they were large enough to fish for. They talked about climbing through the forest and up the mountain. Jorge’s English is much better than Juan’s, later Teresa told me he works in the Maintenance Department for Avianca.

They had a contest, everyone was given a long piece of string and you had to cut it to the size that would fit around Laura’s waist and her large stomach.

I cut back my piece 3 times and when Daniela wrapped it around Laura’s waist it fit perfectly. Beginner’s luck! My reward was a shot of aguardiente, Colombia’s hard liquor. My first taste of alcohol in many years.

Here’s Juan and Jorge

They had different colored pieces of paper cut into about 4” x 4” squares and everyone wrote a note to the new baby girl, Valentina.

This is Teresa’s:

Laura opened presents and this is video of her taking out the socks and second sleeper (first one already on her lap)

Everyone was given a plate with three meatballs, some potatoes (au gratin?), something else I don’t recall, and a little salad.

We finally left at 8pm (still raining) and another couple at the party who live in La Frontera gave us a ride as far as Smartfit and we walked the last couple blocks back to the apt. It’s now about 9pm and time to get ready for bed.

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Friday, February 14, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 4:45am, never fell back into a deep sleep, finally waking/getting up at 6:45.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Colombia has their own version of this in October, Day of Love and Friendship.

After breakfast Teresa and I returned to bed from 7:30 to 8:30. After that I got ready and left for the gym. I completed my workout increasing my Back Extension to 75#.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor and noticed these 5 (security?) workers in the park:

Not sure what their function is, they stayed together in a group chatting.

Btw, peanuts were missing in both places where I see them (which I replaced) I just haven’t caught a sight of the squirrels eating them.

I left at 10:45 and on the way back to the apt Teresa called to inform me we have no water. She asked me to pick up potatoes in Ara but I explained I have no money with me. I stopped in the porteria and John, one of the porteros, told me we would only be without water for 10 minutes. He handed me a package which was the other two bottles of my body cream from Medipiel. (They only had one yesterday and promised to send the other two directly to our apt. They actually arrived last night but 1) I wasn’t dressed, 2) it was cold and rainy so I put it off until today.

Laura, Vicky’s daughter, is having a baby shower tomorrow and Teresa wants me to go with her but I know it’s just a party for women, even though Juan will (probably) be there.

Later Teresa explained that Vicky will be going about 10am but Teresa doesn’t want to go that early and she’s afraid of going alone. So, I guess I’ll be going with her about 2:30 or 3pm tomorrow. Yes, Juan speaks English but that doesn’t mean he’ll want to talk with me.

I’ve been going through my Next Level Training course from the beginning, this time taking notes. My goal is to complete one session a day and so far I’m on schedule.

I was going to go to Eduardo Madrid to order English muffins for Monday afternoon pickup but Teresa reminded me we have to go to Santafe mall to buy a shower gift. I guess I can order them tomorrow morning.

I went out on the balcony and there was a little sun (we haven’t had a lot of it lately). I was standing on the corner of the balcony and I see this brown and white pigeon flying up at a 45-degree angle aimed directly at my head. (I think it was planning on landing on the balcony.) when it got about 6’ away it must have finally seen me and did a left turn and landed on an telephone line instead. 😊

I did my usual Google Flights search and received this message, “Prices are currently high for your search.

The least expensive flights for similar trips to Chicago usually cost between $760–1,250.”

Teresa stalled going to Santafe mall until it was “too late”. Now I understand we’ll go to Viva Envigado tomorrow morning to buy the shower gift.

I left at 3pm and had this latte and pecan square in Eduardo Madrid.

My table, next to the window, had this sign on it that I translated to English using Google Lens:

I guess I won’t be giving food to the homeless from this bakery.

I ordered 10 English muffins for pickup Monday afternoon and I bought a slice of carrot cake for Teresa before returning to the apt.

I got back just in time as soon there was a downpour although it only lasted about 15 minutes.

I watched another couple episodes of The Night Agent on Netflix.

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 3:45am, couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up at 4:15, read until almost 5am when I went back to bed, fell asleep quickly, finally waking/getting up at 7:45.

Troyclough resigned our game on the 39^th move increasing my rating to 1572.

I met Marcos in Tostao at 9:30. He got his right ear cleaned last week and now he says it’s worse than before. He’s supposed to get his left ear cleaned this week so I recommended he ask the doctor first about his right ear.

He left at 10:30 and I moved to Peccato for a latte while working on a few chess puzzles. Laura texted me asking for the name of the female Dermatologist I used last year. (Later I checked my blog notes and it’s Doctora Cristina Maria Uribe Betancur at Clinica Las Vegas, Fase 1, Piso 4, Consultorio 422.)

I left at 11:15 and bought a few things in Mercado Madrid on my way back to the apt.

Teresa called me at noon and informed me that Medipiel has a sale today. (It seems like every time we’ve asked they’ve informed us they had a sale the day before.) I had her check on the price of my body cream and she said it was 77mil which is the lowest price I’ve seen for it. We made plans to meet at 1pm in J&C Delicias for lunch.

I took a Didi to Mayorca and arrived at J&C Delicias right at 1pm.

Teresa had an arepa with shrimp and I an arepa with beef & broccoli for 105mil.

Medipiel was having a big sale so we stocked up on products we’ll need this year amounting to 1,267,400 pesos ($305.06)). (For me I purchased 3 bottles of skin cream to hydrate my skin, hopefully repelling any more lesions.)

Teresa surprised me by wanting ice cream from Mimo’s. 

She had a cup with chocolate and I had a cone dipped in chocolate with peanuts (the one on the left in the photo), a choice that must be eaten quickly before it melts.

We returned to the apt by taxi.

I watched another episode of The Night Agent while Teresa got a massage from Kelly. Right after they finished it started raining so Kelly had to return on her motorcycle in the rain.

I ordered a chess opening book called The Iron English.

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, again at 4:45am, eventually gave up falling back asleep and got up at 5:45.

Teresa made me breakfast, proclaimed she’s going to the 10:15 gym class and went back to bed.

At 7:30 I was ready to go to the gym but I thought it was too early so I set my alarm for an hour and went back to bed. I must have fallen asleep pretty quickly because the next thing I remember is my alarm going off.

Teresa asked me to meet her for lunch in Mayorca between 12:30 and 1pm. I told her that was fine but today I want to go to J&C Delicias instead of our usual Crepes & Waffles.

I got dressed and left for the gym at 8:30. Usually my first machine is the Butterfly but it was occupied so I tried the Back Extension for the first time. I set it to 70# and had no problem doing 20 reps. Next time I’ll try 80#, like a doctor, my main goal is “do no harm”. I completed my workout then moved to Ganso y Castor where I had a latte while doing some chess puzzles and people watching in the park. I saw workers taking down the last of the (large) Christmas decorations.

I left at 10:30 and returned to the apt.

At 12:30 I started the process of ordering a Didi and Maria took me to Mayorca mall. I found Teresa already in J&C Delicias on the 5^th floor. She had her usual salmon with a side of broccoli and I their penne carmela with a limonada de coco for a total of 122mil ($29).

We stopped in Dollar City where Teresa picked up a couple things and I bought a sheet of plastic stick-on hooks. I plan to put them in restrooms that I encounter that don’t have one (which are numerous). We’ll see if they stick well enough, but they only cost me 5,000 pesos ($1.25) so the risk versus reward isn’t huge.

We had lattes in Panaderia Chipre. They were pretty strong but the server took them away and made them weaker. We also shared a cookie but I only had one bite because it was too dry.

We left at 4pm and returned to the apt by taxi.

We had a little rain early in the evening.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 resigned our game on the 50^th move increasing my rating to 1565.

I watched season 2 episode 1 of The Night Agent on Netflix.

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 4:45am, took a few minutes to fall back asleep, finally got up for good at 6:15 just before my 6:30 alarm.

It took a while to find a Didi to take me to Unicentro but I only arrived 5 minutes late. He had scrambled eggs with sausage and I had my usual French toast. I think I’ll try his order next time. I showed Jose a photo of the apt where we will be staying in Des Plaines.

About 9am we moved to the food court. I had the Black pieces and he blundered a piece on the 40^th move and resigned six moves later.

It was about 11:30 when we started the next game. I had the White pieces and I got an attack but couldn’t finish and it ended up a draw after 73 moves. It was 2:45 when we finished.

I took a Didi with Gonzalo, who drove quite aggressively, to Viva Envigado. (At one point in heavy traffic I think a girl on a motorcycle in passing asked him where he learned to drive because his response was, “mi hija” (my daughter).

I had my usual large bowl of granola, yogurt, fruits, and nuts with a small latte in Pergamino. (It was very crowded and I was fortunate to find a free table.) Teresa called and reminded me to pick up a few things in Exito. As I left, I noticed the new wing, Jardin Nomada, was very busy so I guess it’s a success.

I paid our cellphone bills in Claro and took the back entrance into Exito. They didn’t have Nescafe instant decaffeinated so I got a small jar of the regular and I’ll check in Mercado Madrid on Thursday. I paid 44,300 pesos ($11) for a carton of eggs on sale, pay for 44, take 48 so that comes out to 22 cents an egg.

I hear eggs are pretty expensive in comparison in the US.

I returned to the apt by taxi.

We had a little rain in the evening.

Kelly was here from 6:15 to 7:45, a one-hour massage then I think they just chatted for half an hour.

I watched the first episode of the first season of The Night Agent (7.5) and it was obvious I’ve seen this before. I checked my blog notes and I already watched the first season so time to move on to the second season.

The Frank Sinatra impersonator on Yo Me Llamo sang Strangers in the Night. I really liked it but he ended up being eliminated at the close of the show.

Teresa says she’s going to the early 6:15 or was it 7:15 gym class tomorrow. Yeah, we’ll see about that.

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Monday, February 10, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10:15, woke up at 5:45, got up at 6:15.

The final score last night was 40-22 Eagles over the Chiefs in Superbowl LIX. I was happy to see someone other than the Chiefs finally win one.

I left the apt at 7:45 for Smartfit.

No ice this morning to put in our thermoses for gym. Next time I deice the ice machine I’ll try to remember to save some ice before turning it off. I figured I’d just use the drinking fountain in the gym. When I went for a drink, it turns out only the bottle refill spout works. ☹

I was on the Seated Row machine and was surprised I couldn’t complete as many reps as usual. It was only afterward I found I had inadvertently set it to 10# more than my usual weight. The back extension machine was in use when I was ready to leave so I skipped it for today.

I was having a latte in Ganso y Castor when a worker walking by with a tray of bread set it on a concrete table about 20’ in front of me. He asked me something and I said, “Que?”. He asked again and this time I understood the subject of his question. I replied, “Collegio San Marcos? Sigue derecho dos quadras”. He looked at me and I continued, “soy un gringo pero lo se donde Collegio San Marcos”. He said something else which I’m guessing is some version of “we’ll see”.

I left at 10am and returned to the apt.

I connected with Milena our Airbnb host and asked for restaurant recommendations in the area and she confessed she doesn’t live there, her father does.

I didn’t feel like going out and just hung around the apt the rest of the day.

When I went to bed at 10pm I noticed workers outside restriping yellow lines in the street.

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Sunday, February 9, 2025

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

Today is my son’s 38^th birthday, Happy Birthday Jimmy!

Teresa was in a dire need for dish washing soap so I went next door to Ara and bought 2 containers, plus a bag of apples and a bag of milk. I dropped them off at the apt then left for Sao Paulo. I arrived at Olivenza by 9am and Glenn was already there with Bianca. I brought him up-to-date on our Chicago trip and asked him about the new burger place I’ve often seen mentioned on Facebook called Beach Burger. He told me he had one delivered and it was awful and the fries were over salted. He recommended a forum called FlyerTalk.com (I checked it out later and it’s just too overwhelming). I had the calentao with scrambled eggs and I gave one of my dinner rolls to Glenn. He left at 10:30, I paid the check, stopped in Carulla and bought a carton of 18 eggs for 18,275 pesos ($4.50) or about 25 cents each. (I had read that in the US 14,000,000 egg-laying hens were killed due to the Avian influenza (H5N1) and another 13,200,000 in December. No wonder egg prices are so high. Per google, Colombia has the same problem but to a much lesser degree.) I returned to the apt in a few raindrops.

We had a thunderstorm come through from 11:30 to noon and the downpour continued for another hour after that.

Somone posted this Chicago Bucket List which I'm going to use to fine tune my own list.

We left the apt at 2pm and our driver, Oscar, didn’t seem to know how to read his GPS, several times I had to correct his about to be made mistakes. It was even obvious to Teresa he didn’t know what he was doing.

We had a nice lunch in Rocoto, Teresa had their Salmon Malibu and I the Lomo Saltado which normally comes mixed with French fries but I requested them separate. For dessert we shared a brownie with ice cream and red fruit and I had a weakened espresso. 

The total bill came to 195,793 pesos ($47).

I lost a game to Troyclough lowering my rating to 1560.

Our Didi driver on the way back missed a turn that would have taken us to the Aguacatala traffic circle and to course correct he had to do two of those cloverleaf right turns to get us to Ave Las Vegas.

Today turned out to be another cool day, not even reaching 80 degrees.

It’s time to deice the ice maker in our freezer so I turned it off, removed the container containing the ice and turned it upside down in the utility sink. A little later I heard a little commotion and found 4 ice cubes inside the freezer. In the future I guess I need to turn off the ice maker an hour or so before removing the container.

I finished the last of my salted-in-the-shell peanuts while watching the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles duke it out in Superbowl LIX. There were lots of sacks and lots of scoring. I was pleasantly surprised that DAZN showed the Superbowl commercials although I thought they were all stupid except the Hellmann’s Mayonnaise one starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. I went to bed when the Eagles were ahead 34-0 thinking this game is over.

I finished reading John Green’s paperback Paper Towns now back to the Jack Reacher series.

 

EL ARROYO

Ernest Hemingway once wrote...

The hardest lesson I have had to learn as an adult is the relentless need to keep going, no matter how broken I feel inside.

This truth is raw, unfiltered, and painfully universal. Life doesn’t stop when we are exhausted, when our hearts are shattered, or when our spirits feel threadbare. It keeps moving—unyielding, indifferent—demanding that we keep pace. There is no pause button for grief, no intermission for healing, no moment where the world gently steps aside and allows us to mend. Life expects us to carry our burdens in silence, to push forward despite the weight of all we carry inside.

The cruelest part? No one really prepares us for this. As children, we are fed stories of resilience wrapped in neat, hopeful endings—tales where pain has purpose and every storm clears to reveal a bright horizon. But adulthood strips away those comforting illusions. It teaches us that survival is rarely poetic. More often than not, it’s about showing up when you’d rather disappear, smiling through pain no one sees, and carrying on despite feeling like you're unraveling from the inside out.

And yet, somehow, we persevere. That’s the quiet miracle of being human. Even when life is relentless, even when hope feels distant, we keep moving. We stumble, we break, we fall to our knees—but we get up. And in doing so, we uncover a strength we never knew we had. We learn to comfort ourselves in the ways we wish others would. We become the voice of reassurance we once searched for. Slowly, we realize that resilience isn’t always about grand acts of bravery; sometimes, it’s just a whisper—“Keep going.”

Yes, it’s exhausting. Yes, it’s unfair. And yes, there are days when the weight of it all feels unbearable. But every small step forward is proof that we haven’t given up. That we are still fighting, still holding on, still refusing to let the darkness consume us. That quiet defiance—choosing to exist, to try, to hope—is the bravest thing we can do.