Thursday, January 30, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, waking/getting up at 5am. After a simple breakfast I returned to bed and slept for another 30-45 minutes.

I met Marcos at Tostao at 9:30 but he didn’t have Hobo with him. I asked where he is and I learned he’s sharing the dog with his owner in Sabaneta. ☹ Marcos went inside to order café con leches and Michael came by on his way to Jumbo and left his backpack on one of my empty chairs. He was in line just a person behind Marcos. Marcos brought a small café con leche for me and a medium for him. Michael soon came out and I made a quick introduction but he left right away for Jumbo.

Marcos is fixated on tRump, that’s just about all he wants to talk/complain about. I told him about my airfare price tracking and he recommends I wait until the price is back down around $1200+. I do have about 5 months left to monitor it so there’s no hurry.

Marcos left and I moved to Peccato where I had a latte (which seemed more like an espresso because it was so strong) while doing a few chess puzzles.

I found more information on Illinois Tollway’s Pay by Plate:

I see the US Embassy in Bogota has reopened:

I left at 11am and for a change I took the back way (longer but less hilly) back to the apt.

I see Conclave (7.4) is playing in Cine Colombia at 3:40 and 6:30. I showed Teresa the trailer in Spanish and she recommends I go see it then tell her if it’s worth seeing. I told her “fine, but I doubt I would want to see it again”. She has a 5pm appointment for a massage with Kelly.

I contacted Eduardo Madrid bakery by Whatsapp and ordered 10 (the minimum amount) English muffins for pickup tomorrow afternoon.

I left the apt at 1:30 and walked to the mall. I recycled a couple items in the basement, cut through the parking garage and took an escalator up to the 2^nd floor and entered Cine Colombia. I asked for one ticket to Conclave but he didn’t understand me. Maybe the name is different in Spanish. I looked at the movie list on his screen and he scrolled down and I didn’t see it. I showed him this photo of the movie and he pointed out it opens February 20^th. Head slap emoji. I screwed up again.

I made a 2,000,000-peso withdrawal from Servibanca and it was all 100s. I paid the apt rental, gym payments, and our health insurance and made another2,000,000-peso withdrawal from Davivienda and it was a mix of 100s, 50s, 20s, and 10s. 😊

I went down to Urbania where I had a latte while sending copies of my receipts via Whatsapp and I messaged Teresa about my mistake.

I left at 3:45 and picked up a number of items in Exito and at the cash register the Hunt’s pasta sauce didn’t scan. Entering the UPC code manually didn’t work either. The girl called over another woman who went to check on the item. I had a little conversation with the checkout girl for 10 minutes until the woman returned. She had a photo of the item and I think they entered the price manually into the register.

I returned to the apt by taxi.

There's this pretty lone flower on the tree outside our apt.

I watched the first two episodes of Attack on Pearl Harbor on Netflix.

 

FUNNY

 

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

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

The fan worked great during the night, very quiet and just a little breeze to help break up the heat.

Teresa had an early (7am) gym class but she made me a quick breakfast first. She told me there’s some type of fair at Plaza Mayor that she wants to see that’s only 3 days ending tomorrow.

I lost a game to Troyclough lowering my rating to 1556.

I left the apt at 8am for Smartfit. While I was on the treadmill, I noticed a government PSA on TV that Colombians in estratos 1 & 2 can get a Colombian passport for free. (Not that they can afford to go anywhere.)  I was just about to start my last machine, the Shoulder Press, when Michael on the next machine asked if it really cost something like $50 to send a form to Canada? I assured him that was true and recommended he go next door to Envios Market and talk to Victoria. He also mentioned he’s looking for property between Medellin and El Retiro with a view of the former on which to build a house, like a finca.

I finished my workout and moved to Ganso y Castor where I had a latte and kept an eye on a tree to see if a squirrel would find the peanut I left there. Nope! I left at 10:30 and returned to the apt.

Troyclough resigned our latest game on the 16^th move increasing my rating to 1563.

I googled Plaza Mayor but I didn’t see any events for this week or weekend.

I texted one of my Airbnb options (Malgorzata in Rolling Meadows) and asked what is meant by the last entry on the itemized price list called “before taxes”?

During lunch Teresa informed me the US Embassy in Bogota is closed. Looks like we got her US Visitor’s Visa just in time.

Well, not another word from Teresa this afternoon about Plaza Mayor.

Teresa informed me Esmeralda may be coming over later to go for gelato. Only problem is we just had a bowl of gelato here. Maybe we’ll go for pizza even though we just had it a couple days ago.

Esmeralda arrived at 5:45, I ordered a Didi and we took the elevator down with 2 families with kids. I told Teresa, “dos mas minutos” (for our car to arrive) then I said, “two more minutes” and turned to a young girl and said, “entiendes?” and she nodded yes and the others in the elevator were proud if not astounded. I mentioned to Teresa that they are learning English in school. A young boy said, in English, that he’s going to go to school in Canada to learn English.

We met Esmeralda and took a Didi to Antica Pizza, Gloria was there, and we had a slice of pizza with drinks. We left at 7:15, stopped at the bakery down the street and bought a couple of pastries for our security guards. We quickly caught a taxi and at one point we were stopped at a red light and there was a golden lab sitting in the back seat of the car next to us. Our driver whistled and the dog turned his head towards us and I motioned like I was patting his head. Our driver informed us that he has six dogs and showed us a video where we could see 3 of them go up long stairs and then down a concrete slide. 😊 We returned to our complex and gifted the pastries to our guards.

 

EA

 

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 9:30pm, got up once during the night, finally waking up at 5:45 and getting up at 6:15.

At 7:20 I took a Didi to Unicentro arriving 10 minutes early, so I had to wait until 8am for the guards to open the doors.

In Parmessano I had their French toast and Jose had one of their egg casseroles. We discussed my trip and the confrontation between tRump and Petro.

We adjourned to the food court and I lost both games to Jose.

It was 1:15 when we finished and I ordered a Didi to take me to Viva Envigado.

Today I decided to try a new restaurant named Pigasus. I remember seeing one years ago a block from Los Molinos mall, this one opened up about 6 months ago.

Their motto is “miracles happen” or “when pigs fly” or something like that …and this is my Pigasus burger:

It would have been better without the chicharron inside. 😊

I stopped in Exito and bought a bag of milk and a large bottle of ketchup before returning to the apt by taxi.

The elevator was out of order (monthly routine maintenance?) so I had to walk up four flights to our apt.

I finished watching the limited TV series, The Pacific on Neflix.

Before I went to bed I set the new fan for the first time to the lowest speed with the 60º rotation.

 

EA

Monday, January 27, 2025

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

I heard about the confrontation between tRump and Petro, president of Colombia. All we need is to have tRump issue some order that prevents us from visiting Chicago.

I left the apt at 7:45 and found Smartfit a little busier than usual. When I moved to the Seated Row machine and set it to 135# I found I could barely move it. Has someone “fixed it” somehow? I tried the neighbor machine and it was the same. I went to the front desk and asked if anyone had “fixed” the Seated Row machines. She pointed me toward one of the trainers. I asked Daniel and he said, “no”. After he left, I checked my notebook and realized the 135# was for a different machine, I’m only using 95# on the Seated Row. Head slap emoji.

Today I added 5# to the following machines: Abdominal Crunch, Chest Press, Biceps Curl, and Shoulder Press.

In the park I replaced the missing peanut and had a latte in Ganso y Castor. I kidded the waitress, “couldn’t you fill my cup more?”

I left at 9:30 and returned to the apt. I took my shower then waited for Teresa to return from her gym class.

We left the apt at 11:45 and took a Didi to Pricesmart. We first picked up the items from our lists that didn’t need refrigeration. I think I’ll buy these next Halloween for the kids.

We had lunch in their cafeteria, a slice of pepperoni pizza for me and chicken wings for Teresa and we shared a Coke. We picked up the refrigerated items but they didn’t have turkey breast, only whole turkeys. Items on my list included Bisquick, maple syrup, strawberry preserves, and organic granola. I found these Hebrew 100% beef hotdogs but they’re so scrawny.

The total bill came to 783,789 pesos ($184.50) and we returned to the apt by taxi.

I left the apt at 1:30 and walked up calle 30 and into the park where I saw Chris Cajoleas sitting at one of the concrete tables with two other gringos. I recognized Chuck immediately even though I only saw his back. I sat down next to Chris and said hello and shaked hadnds with Chuck. We chatted a bit and when he left I noticed he was using a walker. (I recall he doesn’t believe in exercise and believes we all have a limited energy that in time will run out.) I chatted a bit with Chris and after he left I moved to Los Portenos where I had a latte. I left at 4pm and when I arrived back at the apt Kelly was just leaving.

I lost a game to Mr_Blamo lowering my rating 16 points to 1567. ☹

I watched a couple more episodes of The Pacific on Netflix.

 

FUNNY

Sunday, January 26, 2025

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

Jack, my buddy from college sent me this photo of us, circa 1972 when he was in the army (and I wasn’t, he he).

Oops, didn't come through. Why was it saved as a .pdf file instead of a .jpg?

I left the apt at 8:30 and first stopped in Smartfit so Teresa could talk to them on my cellphone about their classes today. I continued on to Olivenza where Glenn with Bianca soon arrived. I asked about his health situation and he said he’s waiting for test results from his cardiologist then he’s going to use the gastroenterologist that he recommended. I told him about my experience getting the apostille for my residency visa as he’ll be going through the same process soon. He told me about his experience with Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services (Peacock) that he'll join for a month to watch the movies he wants then cancel it. I left at 10:45 and walked back to the apt.

I see Amazon Prime Video has a 30-day free trial. 😊 I was going to watch The Pacific was one of the series I was going to watch on Amazon Prime but I see it’s on Netflix.

We left the apt at 1:30 and took a Didi to Rocoto, the Peruvian restaurant in the Provenza neighborhood of Poblado.

Teresa ordered their Salmon Malibu

and I their St. Louis ribs

I translated for Teresa my comment about the ribs, “In my gringo opinion, it’s a shame these delicious ribs were ruined by putting this hot spice (curry?) on them. I guess it’s a Peruvian taste”. I ate 3 of them and got the other two to go.

For dessert we shared these spring rolls with cappuccinos (they couldn’t make lattes).

The total check came to 213,383 ($50) including tip.

At 3:45 we left and returned to the apt by Didi.

As soon as we returned I rinsed the curry from the ribs, put a little BBQ sauce on them and put them in the fridge.

I watched a few episodes of The Pacific (8.3) on Netflix.

For supper I put the ribs in the microwave to heat them up and ate them with a little more BBQ sauce.

I put the NFL championship games on DAZN on my laptop in the background while watching TV and later reading my Kindle.

A couple of my lesions are back. ☹

 

EL ARROYO

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up once around 3am, didn’t sleep deeply after that, finally waking/getting up at 6am.

For breakfast, Teresa made me blueberry pancakes with pecans, yummy! During the week I usually have just a couple scrambled eggs with half or a whole toasted bagel with strawberry preserves but I usually have pancakes on Saturday. (Teresa still calls them waffles because she can’t remember the word pancakes but she can remember waffles because of Crepes & Waffles. I do miss waffles though.)

This is Expat’s response (lightly edited) regarding travel insurance, “Not without their issues but Assist Card has a Colombian site and a fairly wide range of coverage options, including those allowing any preexisting conditions. Not sure there are a lot of options for coverage outside of Colombia. Remember as well that while numbers like $1 million in coverage sounds huge it’s not hard to run up bills in the American system for say ER as you won’t qualify for any Health Company discounts and will therefore pay full tariff.”

I remember seeing the words “Assist Card” on a building yesterday as we went over the bridge entering the gold mile. I wonder if anyone working there speaks English. I did a quick search and found we’re talking about a fee of over $1,000, probably because of our advanced ages. ☹

I left the apt at 8:30 and had a latte in Pecatto. I left at 10am and took a Didi to Kalley, Calle 2 #50-21. (I thought my Didi driver was going to make me seasick with all his switching back and forth between the accelerator and the brake.) Their rep spoke English but he thought I needed a passport to charge it but my cedula photo id worked fine. It cost 139,900 pesos ($33) and I quickly returned to the apt by Didi. (In hindsight I probably could have ordered it online had I used my passport number instead of my foreign cedula.) The fan,

same one I saw in Eduardo Madrid, is nice because: it can be adjusted vertically, rotates 60º and is very quiet. When it gets hot here, I’ll aim it at our bed, just stirring up the air a bit can make a big difference.

I checked my locker in Miami and the last item was a “letter” received on 1/16/25. The next “letter” should be my library card, not that I’m in a hurry to receive it.

Teresa told me her sister Vickie might be coming over later and we’ll go for gelato.

I left the apt at 1pm, put a peanut in the tree in the park and took a seat in Los Portenos. I had a latte while going through my second Chess Life magazine. Teresa called and informed me Vickie wasn’t coming and I should buy a ½ liter of coconut gelato. I left at 4pm, the peanut was gone, bought a ½ liter of coconut gelato (I noticed the price has gone up slightly) and returned to the apt.

We each had a small dish of coconut gelato.

I finished watching the first season of The Squid Game (8.0). I think I’ll wait a bit before I watch season 2.

Teresa surprised me by saying she wanted to go for pizza. At first, she wanted Pizza Americana in Itagui, specifically mentioning I took her there when we were “novios” ie, dating. In the end she settled on Piccolo because it’s closer and she wanted to finish a TV program first.

We left the apt at 7pm and walked the 3 blocks to Piccolo, on Ave Poblado across the street from Smartfit, which I was surprised was closed. We ordered a 6-slice pizza with tomato on my side and chicken on her side. (I’ve mentioned it before but here they size pizza not by inches (or even centimeters) but by the number of slices, 4, 6, 8, etc.) We each had a Coke also and the check came to 75,887 pesos ($18), including tip. We returned to our apt in a few raindrops, but not enough that I needed to put up the umbrella.

 

FUNNY

Friday, January 24, 2025

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

I’ve been using Google Flights to monitor our flight costs. It’s been $1440-$1445 so far this week but today it dropped to $1281. Time to get serious and look at return flights and see what price the United site shows.

I left the apt at 8:15 and walked to Smartfit. I had a new associate help me with their scale and I’m 176# compared to 177# last November 6^th. (There were also very minor improvements in other measurements like BMI and fat.)  Today I made note of which machines I want to increase the weight on starting next Monday.

I stopped in Ganso y Castor and had a latte after putting a peanut in the tree for the squirrels.

I texted my kids that we’re coming to Chicago for vacation from June 16^th to July 15^th. Jeannie responded, “there is a fun Wednesday night market with live music that’s just one mile from us in Highwood. It’s like concerts in the park, but with food vendors too. We went a lot last summer. So, we’ll have to do that at least one Wednesday.”

I met Jeff from Philadelphia who leaves tomorrow but he’s seriously thinking of moving here next year; we exchanged phone numbers.

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

It’s gotten overcast and there’s a chance of rain after 3:30pm, per The Weather Channel.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 resigned our game increasing my rating to 1583.

I showed Teresa our 3 flight options for returning to Medellin and she chose “7:40pm-4:42am with 1 hour and 35-minute layover in Houston”, which just happened to be the least expensive at $1,321. Of course, that price is round-trip for 2 but it still doesn’t include choosing seats and checked baggage.

We left at 4:15 and took a Didi to Torre Medica on Calle 7. While Teresa was upstairs having a fancy, expensive, facial treatment, I had a café con leche and pastel de arequipe in Boulevard café. She came down about 45 minutes later and had a pastry with a café con leche. We returned to the apt by taxi.

I returned my Kindle book to the library and borrowed the next one in the Jack Reacher series.

Well, we had no rain here today. 😊

 

FUNNY

Thursday, January 23, 2025

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

Expat: do you have any recommendations for travel health insurance?

After breakfast I laid down to rest for a bit but couldn’t fall asleep.

I left at 9am and met Marcos at Tostao café where we had café con leches. I told him about our Chicago trip and he suggested I ask one of my kids to add me to their auto insurance for a month. He also told me Johanna is now on a weight loss drug. He left at 10am and I moved to Peccato where I had a latte. At 11am I left and stopped in Mercado Madrid where I bought a few things before returning to the apt.

I left the apt at 2pm and walked to the mall. Stanley has their own booth selling those drink containers that have become so popular in the US.

I went up to Banco Sudameris where I withdrew 2,000,000 pesos, all 100s, from their Servibanca ATM. I stopped in Decathlon looking for carabiners to assist with our trip but the only ones they had were for hiking. I went down to Urbania where I had a latte while doing some chess puzzles.

I noticed this new furniture store, Ambiente,

I remember seeing one in El Tesoro and they have a café/restaurant I’ll have to try.

I left at 4pm, bought 3 limes in Exito that Teresa requested and returned to the apt by taxi.

I watched another episode of Squid Game while Teresa was getting a massage from Kelly.

I finished reading Lee Child’s One Shot (Jack Reacher #9), my first (free) library book. Now do I have to check it back in to free it for someone else, or just let the 2-week time period expire? Perhaps the only reason I read it so quickly was because I read some on the bus last Sunday.

 

EL ARROYO

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

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

Teresa made me a quick breakfast before heading out to her 7am exercise class.

I left at 8am and walked to Smarfit. The gym has three floors although I mainly stick to the first floor which has weight machines on one side and a cardio area on the other. There are 2 of every machine with one exception. I had just arrived at the Butterfly machine when I noticed a young lady having trouble using the one next to it. I approached her and said, “puedo ayudarte?”, “si senor”. I adjusted the overhead mechanism, urged her to sit closer to the bar and restricted how far she should move her arms back. Later in my workout, my next machine was the Abdominal Crunch and it’s the exception meaning it’s the only one of its kind. There was a young lady sitting there but she wasn’t doing anything. I stood there and when she looked up I made the motion to share the machine; it’s always worked before. Then I noticed her cellphone was set to a call and I could see she had earbuds in and she was crying. (Not a good place to get bad news.) She said something, the only thing of which I understood was “no preocupes” then she got up and left.  I finished my workout and said “hello” to Michael as I left the gym.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor and while I was there a squirrel took the peanut I left there without me noticing. I replaced it but he didn’t return before I left at 10:15 and returned to the apt.

I tried purchasing a fan from Kalley (139,900 with free delivery) using my USAA debit card but the website didn’t seem to like my foreign cedula number.

On my second attempt I used my Capital One card but it didn’t say it was successful, just took me back to the purchase screen.  I signed into my Capital One account and didn’t see a charge so I guess I had to sign in then make the purchase. After I did and clicked on continue it just took me to the billing screen again. ☹ I guess I either have to go to their store (other side of the expressway between Aguacatala and Pablado stations) or wait for Laura to arrive next month to help me.

So, the Apartment in Des Plaines is my first choice and my backup (in case the former gets rented before I can act) is the Condo in Rolling Meadows although it’s $700 more.

I left the apt at 1:30, found the copy center closed (she probably closes for a couple hours for lunch), paid the Tigo/Une bill of 120,480 pesos and had a latte in Los Portenos. I left at 2:30, printed all the pages of USAA’s Guide to Benefits and moved to Eduardo Madrid bakery to review the guide. I see now I get Trip Cancellation Interruption insurance and Travel Accident Insurance if I purchase our airline tickets with my USAA credit card.

I left at 4:45 and returned to the apt where Teresa was just finishing up a massage from Kelly.

It just occurred to me I can save another $5 a day ($150 total) by declining Cover My Belongings. What are we going to be leaving in the car? A jacket, maybe? An umbrella?

Troyclough resigned our game on the 25^th move increasing my rating to 1579.

Esmeralda was supposed to come over and we would go for pizza but it ended up not happening.

I watched some Netflix then switched to DirecTV so Teresa could watch the news followed by Yo Mi Llamo.

 

T-SHIRT OF THE DAY

My life is a romantic comedy, minus the romance and all comedy.

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10, got up once at 4am, couldn’t fall back asleep, got up at 5am, read a little, went back to bed at 5:30, a truck pulled up outside (for Ara?), I heard the hydraulic brakes and some voices, it soon left and the alarm went off at 6:30am.

I see the Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-23 last night.

Before I left the apt, I took half of an Excedrin to help clear my head.

I took a Didi to Unicentro arriving at the restaurant just after 8am and Jose soon joined me.

At 9am we moved to the food court where I took another, this time whole, Excedrin. I’m still trying to figure out how to dress for these cool mornings and warm afternoons. I’m now thinking sleeveless t-shirt, shorts but bring a jacket for the morning.

I had the Black pieces in the first game and he won in 41 moves. I had the White pieces in the second and I won in 51 moves. It’s nice you when you win.

I left at 1:30 and took a Didi to Viva Envigado. I had the granola with yogurt and chia berries and a small latte again in Pergamino. I stopped in Urbania where I had a latte while going through my phone messages.

I took a taxi to Ara where I bought a bag of milk before returning to the apt.

So, the monthly cost of the Apartment in Des Plaines that I found on Airbnb is:

$2,400 Accommodation

-$240 Monthly Stay Discount

$100 Cleaning Fee

$286 Airbnb Service Fee

$2,546 Total before taxes

Which comes out to $88 a night. And if I can judge from the general location from Airbnbn it looks like the apt is located south of the Golf Rd/Wolf Rd traffic circle.

Tomorrow I’m going to print USAA’s entire Guide to Benefits to see if there’s anything else I can put on my credit card to cut costs.

I watched some World War II documentary on Netflix.

 

T-SHIRT OF THE DAY

Born to fish.

Monday, January 20, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10, got up twice during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:15.

So, what’s special about today?

1.  It’s the beginning of a new US Presidential administration.

2.  It’s Martin Luther King Day.

3.  It’s the National Championship Football Game.

4.  It’s my 12^th anniversary here in Medellin.

Not necessarily in that order. 😊

I left the apt at 8am and completed my workout in Smartfit. (Teresa was going to a 9am class in Mayorca.) I had a latte in Ganso y Castor where I met Russ from Idaho. I asked him some questions about Airbnb and learned the filter for “Entire Home” includes apartments, condos, townhouses so what it will do for me is exclude rooms, so then the lower priced stays will be what I’m looking for.

I guess I was distracted as the peanut disappeared so I replaced it with another. Russ left a few minutes later and I left at 10am and returned to the apt.

I’m back to looking in Des Plaines and Rolling Meadows but I need a place for Laura to sleep. Like a couch.

I messaged Milena from “Apartment in Des Plaines” on Airbnb as to 1. If there would be a couch or someplace for Laura to sleep?, 2. If June 16-July 15 qualifies for her monthly discount? (sounds like a month to me but we can always add another day).

I sent the same to Malgorzata for “Condo in Rolling Meadows”.

I worked on my Things to do in Chicago list adding addresses, hours, costs, etc.

Teresa called at 11:45 and asked me to meet her for lunch in Crepes & Waffles in Mayorca at 12:30.

I took a Didi to Mayorca and arrived 2 minutes late and Teresa already had a table. She ordered chicken breast with broccoli and I a Cesar (or is it Caesar?) salad and we shared a bottle of water. After, she surprised me when she said she wanted dessert. (Who are you and what have you done with my wife?) We ordered their Suprema ice cream cup to share and I had a latte. The check came to 87,700 pesos ($20).

Teresa asked in Medipiel if they had a sale and predictably, they said “ayer”. I told her no more Sunday pueblo trips because she needs to shop the sales in Medipiel. 😊

We returned to the apt by taxi.

Wow, a high of 86 degrees today.

Milena answered that our dates qualify for the monthly discount and she said Laura can sleep on the couch shown in the photo.

I found this bird on our balcony.

I think it was sick since it allowed me to get so close but we left it alone and an hour later it was gone.

Add to the above list: #5 Chicago Bears hire Ben Johnson as their new Head Coach. 😊

I listened to some 670 The Score on Youtube discussing the Ben Johnson hire.

At 7:30 I turned on the NCAA Football Championship game on DirecTV. Normally I would listen to it instead of watch it as not to disrupt my pre-sleep routine but the broadcast was in Spanish so I had to watch it. The Ohio State Buckeyes scored a touchdown just before halftime to go up 21-7.

I then started my pre-sleep reading period, finally going to bed at 10pm.

 

T-SHIRT OF THE DAY

I’m so tired of this Sh*t.

Sunday, January 19, 2025

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

Teresa sent me next door to buy 7 ripe tomatoes. When I returned, she opened the freezer and found a few she had forgotten about. 😊

I found a “Cozy Garden Suite with Kitchen in Morton Grove” on Airbnb for $2,253.37 and it has 2 bedrooms. (I may have forgotten to mention Laura will probably visit for a few days in late June.) I reserved it for June 16^th to July 15^th. Free cancellation before May 17^th.

I chatted with my brother about how to pay for using the Illinois tollway system since I don’t have a transponder. I’m going to call the rental car place (probably Budget) for advice. On the other hand, I found Pay by Plate for the Illinois Tollway so I’ll call them with a few questions.

We left the apt at 10:30, took a Didi to pick up MT and then went on to Terminal Sur. We bought 3 tickets for 10,200 pesos each but it was only 11am and the next bus wasn’t until 11:40. Time went quickly; after we each made a trip to the restroom we boarded the bus and it left two minutes early. The small bus (25 seats) wasn’t anywhere near full but we did pick up more people at the Exposiciones station, and arrived in El Retiro at 1pm. We walked up to the park in a very light drizzle, made a right and found a line outside Lomo Fino. Our wait was only about 10 minutes and we got in before others because we were only three and they put us at a small table.

Teresa ordered the chicken plate, MT had soup and a salad and I ordered the solomito (steak); it was good the last few times I had it here. When they brought it I cut it right away and saw red and a little blood in the middle and sent it back for medium well. When they returned it had a good flavor and was tender enough and I finished almost all of it. The total check came to 134,000 pesos ($32.50) including tip.

It was still misting a little so we skipped walking around the park and headed back downhill two blocks to Café Retiro. The place has grown again since last time we were there (although their bathrooms are very tiny). We each had a latte and the ladies shared an apple cake while I had a slice of carrot cake.

Later I had a 2^nd latte with the last of my cake.

I won a game against mekael965 in 32 moves increasing my rating to 1572.

We left at 4pm, walked around the park and Teresa hesitated in front of the church. She ducked in for a minute but soon came back out and we walked down the hill to the bus station. While the ladies went to the restroom a Medellin bus pulled out at 4:30. When they returned another Medellin bus arrived and we got on and it left at 4:45 and like our previous bus it wasn’t full either.

Traffic wasn’t bad coming into Medellin at 6pm. We got off at Exposiciones station and caught a taxi back to Envigado.

I received a response to my booking request. This notification from Airbnb, “Unfortunately, your host in Morton Grove didn’t accept your booking request.” And this message from the host, “Sorry the prices listed are not correct for busy season.” So now what? I guess I’ll just monitor daily airfare and Airbnb prices.

I received an email from Netflix that they are increasing their monthly price to 29,900 pesos starting February 19^th.

 

T-SHIRT OF THE DAY

Allergic to Geometry.

Saturday, January 18, 2025

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

I left the apt at 8:30 and walked to the mall. I recycled a large pill bottle, bought a blueberry muffin in Starbucks and took a seat in Urbania before they had even opened for the day. I left at 10am because I’m excited to keep planning our Chicago vacation. I stopped in Exito and bought a 6-pack of small Cokes before returning to the apt.

I cancelled my previous Airbnb reservation and found an apartment in Des Plaines for June 16^th to July 15^th for $2,000.87 a month inc. taxes and Airbnb service charge. I was ready to reserve it when I saw “Free cancellation for 48 hours. After that, the reservation is non-refundable.” so I’d better wait on that.

I also found an apartment in Park Ridge for $2,378 total.

My concern is I won’t be able to get my place for a month if someone books a shorter stay (a day, a week) in my place of choice. ☹

I called USAA and confirmed there is no issue with my living in Colombia and renting a car in the US.

We left the apt at noon and took a Didi to Complex Los Balsos. The restaurant we’ve been wanting to try looks a little fancy and is called Son of the Tiger.

I had their chicken Cesar salad and Teresa had chicken Milanese with penne pasta and we shared a bottle of water. I also ordered a bowl of potato chips just for something different.

The check came to 134,389 ($31) with tip.

We took a Didi to El Tesoro mall where Teresa did a little shopping. She exchanged something in Zara but didn’t find anything in H&M. We had lattes in Valentina’s and shared something called Torta Vasca which I thought I heard was some type of apple cake but tasted like cheesecake to me. The total came to 37,000 pesos including tip.

We left at 4pm and returned to the apt by taxi (no wait).

I finished a quick review of my September issue of Chess Life magazine with these observations: There are more strong chess players coming out of India so I see names like GM (Grandmaster) Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. 😊 I also noticed last February’s US Amateur Team West was held in Schaumburg, IL, last May’s Chicago Open was held in Wheeling, IL and the Caveman Chess Camp was held at the Hilton Hotel in Northbrook, IL. In my time I had to go downtown Chicago if I wanted to play in a chess tournament, now they’re very close to where I used to live and work. The latter, the Hilton, has a great Sunday afternoon buffet I plan to take Teresa to. With all their seafood offerings I don’t think she’ll have trouble finding something to eat but I may have difficulty getting her to sit for 3 hours and just graze. The magazine also had an article covering the American Continental Championship in Medellin last May.

I watched a couple more episodes of Squid Game on Netflix.

 

T-SHIRT OF THE DAY

The secret is to stay cool.

Friday, January 17, 2025

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

A comment I found this morning from Expat (lightly edited): “Your credit card may not exclude you. Some do, some don’t. There can be other problems. Many expats try to hang on to the illusion they are US residents, for example by having forwarding addresses in the US. So, your driving license comes up for renewal in your old state and you can apply for it online so you renew it. But if you aren’t a resident in the state (say using someone else’s address) how legal is that renewal? Now, generally when things are going well, nothing bad happens. You turn up at the rental counter, they look at the credit card and license and just let you rent the car. But, if you are in an accident and the other insurance company is looking for an out, they’ll dig into stuff. Then they’ll see if they can move the liability to you. Most expats do stuff like this and 99% of the time there are no issues. But it’s something for every expat to be wary of. It’s like you changed the telephone number on your credit card account while asking for an increase. The bank may well be able to tell that is not a normal telephone. And you’re applying from Colombia (or using a VPN) and their security department can get twitchy (some banks won’t process changes or issue cards for a period after a change of personal details). Hopefully everything goes smoothly, but sometimes just springing for the expensive auto rental insurance which allows you to just walk away if there’s an issue isn’t as dumb as it seems.”

One clarification, the bank I changed my phone number for (Capital One) is different than the bank for my credit card (USAA).

So, those 6 bottles of 60 Calendula flower capsules that arrived will last me a year if I take one every day. Since I haven’t had any osteoarthritis pain in my back, maybe I don’t need to take them that often. On the other hand, I see they have an expiration date of “12/26” so I should try to make them last only 2 years. So, I think I’ll take one every M/W/F and they should last me just over 2 years.

For quite some time (years?) I’ve been receiving phone calls and text messages threatening me to pay my Claro Hogar bill. The problem is I don’t have Claro Hogar and never have. This latest message addressed me as “Leidy” so obviously someone else previously had my phone number or Claro has just mixed up the accounts.

I left the apt at 7:45 and actually encountered a number of pedestrians on the way to Smartfit. I guess this is the time when kids go to school and some people are walking to their jobs.

I completed my workout (busier than usual) then went to Ganso y Castor for coffee. I ran into Stacey and we chatted a bit. He has a one bedroom apt across Calle 30 which costs about $1100 a month. This is a good photo of the new Colombian police uniforms.

I called USAA about my request to increase my credit card limit from $500 to $5000 (even though I would probably be okay with just $1500). The rep told me they don’t try to increase it to a specific amount but they will see what increase I qualify for. She asked me a couple questions then submitted an online request and came back and told me I’ve been approved for a credit card limit of $6,500. 😊 Now, not only can I put the auto rental on my credit card with USAA discounts but we may stay a few days longer.

Hey Bart, want to meet at Johnnie’s Beef or Mr. Beef for Italian Beef sandwiches?

Jack & Arlene: I thought we might meet at the Rivers Casino but is it true they no longer have the buffet?

I left the apt at 2:30 and walked to Eduardo Madrid bakery where I asked about sesame seed bagels. The woman went in back and came out with 6 freshly made bagels that she put in a paper bag because they were still too hot to put in a plastic sleeve. I left at 4:30 and returned to the apt.

I watched the first episode of Squid Game (8.0).

The weather has been beautiful lately with no rain and a high of about 82 degrees. Much more comfortable for me than when we hit 86 or 88 degrees.

I’m sad to have to report I’ve lost the dozens of funny signs, etc. I had saved on my laptop so soon it’ll be “t-shirt of the day” for a while. ☹

 

EL ARROYO

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 5:45.

It looks like I can save $32.99 a day on a Budget car rental if I use my USAA card and decline their Cover The Car (LDW) coverage.

I met Marcos at Tostao at 9:30 where we each had a medium café con leche. I told him about my Chicago vacation research and he recommended Turo for car rental but when I told him about the discount using my USAA card he thought that was a better deal. He left at 10:15 and I moved to Peccato where I had a latte while starting to go through my Chess Life magazine. I left at 11am and returned to the apt.

I tried accessing the online library books but it didn’t seem to work like the demo video showed. I used my magicJack to call the library and a lady tried to help me although she said it would be best if I came in with my computer and Kindle so she could help me. Lol.

I left the apt at noon and walked to the mall. I purchased a 4^th row ticket to 2014’s Interstellar (8.7) in their iMax for 8mil. Interesting that it was printed on paper instead of the usual cardboard. Teresa called and asked me to meet them for lunch in Ikea. I had their mixed lasagna and a Coke and they each had their salmon plate and shared a bottle of water for a total of 122,410 pesos.

I said goodbye at 1:15 and went downstairs to Cine Colombia where I purchased a large Coke for 15,200 pesos to go with my free Platinum popcorn. I was quite cold in my shorts and t-shirt but managed not to freeze to death. At Runpee’s 2^nd recommended pee time I made a quick trip to the restroom. The movie was pretty good although the ending was a little confusing.

I was about to leave the mall when I remembered to call Teresa. They were in Juan Valdez outside Ikea. I met them there and Teresa was hungry so we returned to Ikea where she had their chicken meatballs and a vegetable soup for 21,890 pesos. We walked MT down to the Exito exit where we said goodbye and caught a taxi back to the apt.

I finally found a book in the Illinois library but it turns out I already purchased it and it’s in my Kindle ready to read.

I finished watching the limited TV series The Breakthrough.

I lost a game to my “nephew” in 62 moves dropping my rating to 1568. ☹

When I started reading The Enemy on my Kindle, I found I had already read it. ☹ I managed to check out a different library book and this time the process went faster. 😊

My new Pirc opening with black hasn’t given me the best results, 1 win, 2 draws and 3 losses in 6 games but I’ll stick with it a little longer.

 

EL ARROYO