Monday, June 16, 2025

Last night we went to bed at 10pm, I slept through the night, finally waking at 5:30 and getting up at 6am. Teresa got up at 6:30.

Today we should be able to get our internet situation fixed and other things (like contact with the outside world) will start falling into place.

Took my shower; didn’t take long to figure out how to get hot water.

The toilet seems to run nonstop but when I checked it’s some technology I’m not used to so I couldn’t help. It turned out it’s just a slow filling tank.

Someone left behind a couple packages of Clif’s Builders Protein bars. We took one along with us for an emergency in case Teresa gets hungry between meals.

The apt is still cold but I can’t hear the A/C come on, not sure if it’s because of my closing the vents last night or because it isn’t hot outside yet.

Well, it seemed the A/C kicked in just after 7:30, so it must be on a timer.

We left the apt at 8am and rode to the Niles Diner where we had a nice breakfast. Teresa loved her eggs sunny side up with hash browns and feta cheese on the side. She was amazed our coffee cups got refilled so often and she had no problem with cream instead of milk.

I loved my eggs over easy with hash browns and sausage and an English muffin.

I gifted Ziggy o

ne of my lesser bags of Colombian coffee. He wasn’t even working in the kitchen, I found him smoking outside in the parking lot.

We stopped nearby at Ross – Dress for Less where I bought 6 pairs of the thinnest socks I could find and a pair of ProFoot arch supports and Teresa found a number of inexpensive things. Nearby was a Chase Bank where I withdrew $200 all in 20s for a $3.50 withdrawal fee.

We arrived at T-Mobile 15 minutes before their 10am opening. Because of that I found a store named ubreakifix nearby.

When they opened at 10am I inquired as to how much it would cost to repair Teresa’s cellphone. I was told $140 for parts and they would arrive in about 5 days. That didn’t sound worth it so we went to T-Mobile where I purchased 2 sim cards and 2 monthly plans for $84.99. I had them put the sim card with phone# 312 617-0869 in my Samsung A52 cellphone.

To ensure the new Samsung phone was unlocked they recommended Best Buy.

Before I forget:

BEFORE CHICAGO

Teresa has a Samsung Galaxy A04 with Phone# 312 207-9701

I have a Samsung A52 5G with Phone# 323 209-9833

In T-Mobile we purchased:

a Sim card for Teresa with Phone# 312 617-0859

a Sim card for me with Phone# 312 617-0869

Teresa’s cellphone had the Claro sim card and (one we forgot) for Exito points. We had them insert the Claro as her primary and Chicago sim card as the secondary (I think). This is getting complicated.

We went to Best Buy and they didn’t have the Samsung A52 5G so I decided to buy a new Samsung A36 5G cellphone for me and Teresa will take my old cellphone. We will have to use Samsung Smart Switch to transfer my contact, photos, etc to the new cellphone and also her stuff to my old cellphone. This is getting complicated.

But when we return to Medellin, Teresa will take my old cellphone with Phone# 312 617-0869 and I will take the new one with 312 617-0859 (I think, maybe).

In the meantime, for this month at least, we will both use my old A52 cellphone with 312 617-0869.

We went to a strip mall where they had a Michael’s arts & crafts store but they didn’t have anything Teresa was looking for.

Next door was a Famous Footwear where Teresa found a nice pair of Nike gym shoes. Next door to that was a Carter’s but we were hungry so we walked to the mall entrance where there was an Outback Steakhouse. Teresa had the unlimited soup and salad but of course only had one serving. She also had a Coke Zero. She loved the salad but found the French onion soup too salty. I told her that’s because of the cheese and its normal. She also loved the loaf of bread (of course without butter) they brought to the table. I had a Caesar salad with chicken and, finally, a root beer. The check came to $47.08 and I left a $7 tip.

We returned to Carter’s where we found a couple dresses and shoes for my (still in the oven) granddaughter.

The way they package things these days they can be almost impossible to open, sometimes almost destroying the product within.

We returned to Potbelly Sandwich Shop where she had a bowl of Broccoli Cheddar soup and I a bowl of chili. I couldn’t get my old phone to work for a Whatsapp call to her mother (not sure how I named her in my directory – MT, Mother, Maria – couldn’t find her) A call to Wilson an operator said he didn’t have a Whatsapp account. Teresa talked to Laura for about half an hour. I finally got a question in about why when I changed Waze from Spanish to English it still speaks in Spanish. Laura suggested 1) Uninstall and reinstall Waze or 2) Use Google Maps. Both good suggestions.

We stopped across the street at a Shop & Save where we bought a few apples and a small package of blueberries. Teresa saw a 3-pack of taffy apples she wants to bring back to Envigado. We stopped across the way to Potbelly where we had their soup again.

We stopped around the corner in Dollar Tree but it wasn’t even as good, certainly not as well organized, as Dollar City.

We left about 9pm and returned to the apt aiming to go to bed early so we can get up early.

I opened the new cellphone and plugged it to charge. I have to be careful because it doesn’t have a protective screen nor case.

The apt is freezing from the Air Conditioning and I can’t find a thermostat. I texted Milena to increase the temperature by 4 degrees.

I figured out my phone had T-Mobile as the Primary SIM so I switched it to Claro. We’ll see if we can call Colombian phone numbers now.

 

FUNNY