Monday, July 14, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, took a little while to fall asleep, got up once during the night (still dark out), finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

We left the apt at 8:30 and drove to Batter & Berries in Chicago where we met up with Jimmy. He’s been there before and had their Banana Belgian Waffle, I had their Blueberry French toast and Teresa had a Spinach Omelet. Jimmy gave me the okay to stay with him for a few nights in September when I see my granddaughter and I can drive him to school and borrow his car for the day. We gifted Jimmy a Caleb Williams #18 jersey, hoping he (Caleb) will be worthy of the purchase. We all had coffee and I paid the check of $75.12 in cash and left a $15 tip.

We said goodbye to Jimmy and drove to Corey’s NYC Bagel Deli on North Avenue and parked across the street in a strip mall parking lot. As we walked out of the parking area, I noticed a sign that said we would be towed. There was a Lululemon across the street so we stopped there and I asked about me parking across the street. They said I would get towed so better to move to their parking garage which I did. While Teresa continued looking around the store, I went across the street and bought 6 onion bagels for Glenn. (I was a little surprised how hard they are.) Back at Lululemon, in the end Teresa didn’t buy anything but I got my parking ticket validated, saving me $16.

It was a slow drive out of Chicago on the Kennedy Expressway that was out-bound under construction. We stopped in Oberweis again and shared a Banana Royale for $11.04.

Using ChatGPT I got some advice on what we can do in the airport between noon and our 7:30pm flight. In Terminal 1 we can stop at Tortas Frontera Concourse B near gate B11 for lunch then go to Beaudevin Wine Bar in Concourse C for coffee and/or dessert.

We returned to the apt and I called Budget and got permission to return the car between 3-4pm. I contacted our Airbnb host and got permission to check out later also. Now we can have a leisurely breakfast, fill-up the car with gas, finish packing, return the car, check our bags at United and have a late lunch before our flight.

Teresa received a phone call from the owner of our apartment in Envigado. The Administration (probably like a Home Owners Association) is raising his monthly fee so he wants to raise our rent from the current 2,486,531 pesos to 3,000,000 pesos. He likes us as renters because we always pay on time so he would like to keep us. I hear rents have gone up higher than that so I’m okay with paying that next year (I think it starts October 31^st). That’s like another $125 and my SS COLA the past two years covers that. We still should have money left over for travel.

I texted Innovation Corp. and asked them to release everything in my locker.

We left the apt at 6pm and drove to L. Woods in Lincolnwood where we met Jeannie & Jacob for supper. Jeannie has gotten noticeably bigger in the 4 weeks since we’ve seen her. She said she feels more movement inside and can’t imagine how she will look/feel in the remaining 2 months.

Jacob had fish & chips, Jeannie had the baked chicken and Teresa & I had the turkey plate which came with mashed potatoes, dressing, and green beans. The green beans were nothing special but everything else was delicious. We shared an order of peach blueberry cobbler topped with ice cream for dessert. I picked up the check of $147.65, plus $30 for tip.

I told Jeannie when I come in September for a visit, Jimmy gave me the okay to crash on his couch for a couple nights and I can borrow his car if I drive him to school first.

We said our goodbyes, returned to the apt and got ready for bed.

 

BURMA SHAVE