Saturday, August 30, 2025

Last night I took Diphenhydramine and Zopiclona tablets and went to bed at 10pm, took quite a while to fall asleep, got up several times during the night to hit the john and put on more Caladryl, finally waking/ getting up at 6:15.

For breakfast Teresa made me pancakes topped with strawberries and 3 of the Johnsonville sausages which were quite good. She’s going to take 1/3 of our sausages to her mother later.

I went back to bed and slept for an hour.

I emailed ChessBase, “I don't know how it got there either. Can I delete these files also? See attached. Or more generally, can I delete everything in OneDrive that belongs to ChessBase?”

I left the apt at 9:30 and walked to the mall. I recycled a maple syrup bottle and went upstairs to the banking area of the mall. I withdrew 2,000,000 pesos from the Servibanca ATM then got in a short line in Av Villas where I paid the apt rental. I withdrew another 2,000,000 pesos from a Davivienda ATM then paid for the gym and health insurance at a consignacion ATM.

I stopped in a store and inquired about their long sleeve flannel shirts; they are 95,000 pesos but I wasn’t crazy about the pattern.

I didn’t see a line in Claro so I talked to a rep about the constant messages I receive about paying my Claro Hogar (that I don’t have and the messages are addressed to Leidy Tati Murillos Florez) bill. The rep did a lot of typing on her computer then informed me the messages should stop in 72 hours.

I went down to Urbania and had a latte while waiting for Teresa’s call to meet at La Bahia for lunch.

ChessBase responded, “Hello, well, let's say: if you have the Mega on your local HDD, then you can delete the Mega on OneDrive.
 
Best regards
Holger Lieske”

Teresa called at 12:15 and told me to go to lunch without her because she’s going to meet up with the owners of El Rancherito.

I paid my bill and bought a large carton of eggs in Exito before returning to the apt by taxi.

I was surprised to find Teresa still in the apt. She informed me that her cousin and her husband, the owners of El Rancherito, died 5am this morning in a car crash. ☹

Later, per ChatGPT,

I found reliable reports from Colombian news outlets regarding the tragic passing of the owners of El Rancherito.

Who: Jorge Alberto Jaramillo Restrepo and Ruth Elena Alzate, second-generation owners of El Rancherito.

What: They died in a road accident on the Puerto Berrío – Bucaramanga route (Santander).

How: Their vehicle was stationary at a traffic stop when it was struck by a truck, causing fatal injuries.

When: August 30, 2025.

Legacy & Context: El Rancherito was founded in 1975 by Mary Noreña and Gregorio Alzate.

Just a week before the accident, the couple was honored with Medellín’s “Order of Merit Don Juan del Corral, Gold Grade” on the restaurant’s 50th anniversary.

Their passing has deeply affected Antioquia’s gastronomy and equestrian communities.

Statements & Tributes: The restaurant issued a statement honoring their leadership and legacy.

Local officials, Mayor Federico Gutiérrez, former President Iván Duque, and equestrian associations expressed condolences.

They are survived by their daughters Paulina, Ana (Lucía), and María José.

Summary: The couple’s sudden passing has left a profound mark on Colombian culture and business, though their legacy of dedication, tradition, and community impact continues.

Sources: El Tiempo, Telemedellín, Semana, El Colombiano, MiOriente.

Later, Teresa showed me a video that included the car and it was compacted so badly nobody could have survived.

ChatGPT told me how to Quit OneDrive syncing then I deleted all its contents. Hopefully, that will end the threatening messages from Microsoft.

I left the apt at 2:15 and had lunch in Otra Parte. I first ordered a mango juice and waited 25 minutes for it to arrive. I then ordered lunch and it arrived 5 minutes later. I asked for the check to be paid in cash with tip and a waiter brought me a check over 130,000 pesos so I knew something wasn’t right. I noticed a palito de queso on the itemized list so I informed the waiter I only had juice and the Mama Pastora and he brought me the correct check closer to 80mil ($20). Not five minutes later a waitress came to my table and put a plate with pasta and a steak on my table and said, “buen provecho”. I informed her it wasn’t for me and she took it away. I see they’re having some problems today.

I moved to their patio café, El Salon de Berenguela en Otraparte where I had a latte.

I left at 5pm and returned to the apt.

I watched another episode of Jack Ryan on Stremio.

 

FUNNY

Friday, August 29, 2025

Last night I took Diphenhydramine and Zopiclona tablets and went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 3:30, finally waking/ getting up at 6:15.

Last night was much better, almost no itching, so hopefully we’ll heal quickly.

I completed my workout in Smartfit, had a latte in Ganso y Castor and bought a sleeve of bagels in Eduardo Madrid on my way back to the apt.

I didn’t get a response from my email to Info@ChessBase.com but after rechecking the address I forwarded the same email to Support@ChessBase.com.

Teresa doesn’t have to go to her mother’s house today because Vickie is taking care of her.

I found a new low on Google Flights, $451.

We left the apt at 2:30 and took a Didi to Pricesmart in Poblado. (I suggested we have lunch there but Teresa says there isn’t anything there she likes.) They didn’t have turkey breast today nor the garlic butter I’ve been looking for for months. We did buy the Johnsonville breakfast sausage this time, figuring we could split the 36 sausages with her mother.

We also bought a 2lb package of sharp cheddar which should be the perfect size for 4 servings of broccoli cheddar soup.

After the shopping cart was loaded she said she was hungry so we went to the cafeteria and she had their 12 pieces of chicken and I a slice of pizza and we shared a Coke.

Everything came to 868,460 pesos ($216) and we had to wait 15 minutes for a taxi to pick us up.

It’s been years since I’ve seen one of these Baby on Board signs.

The taxi returned us to our apt for 13,300 pesos.

I received this response from ChessBase:

Holger Lieske (ChessBase) 29. Aug. 2025, 20:55 OESZ Dear Terry,   those data not essential, you can delete them. They are installed or generated by ChessBase (16).   I wonder how the data got there. My path is; C:\Users\hl\Documents\ChessBase\Bases\Mega2025\Mega Database 2025.html In ChessBase 16 you can check with Ctrl+Alt+O the settings (pic is from CB 18, but the view is similar):       Best regards Holger Lieske

 

I watched Love Actually (7.5) on Stremio.

FUNNY

Thursday, August 28, 2025

Last night I took Diphenhydramine and Zopiclona tablets and went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 4am, finally waking/ getting up at 7:30.

Now I have a message from MS OneDrive, “You’re over your storage limit (112%). You can’t upload new files or send and receive email for this account.” Sheesh, always something. And I purposely hadn’t set up any backups to OneDrive yet so I don’t know what the problem is.

And I’m still getting emails from the Illinois Tollway.

I removed the last of the clips holding the coaxial cable to the wall.

I left the apt just before 12:30 and walked to La Bahia. Teresa was already there with her mother and her sister Vickie (who I haven’t seen in a while).

Teresa informed me that Vickie wants to visit Argentina in November and do we want to go with her? After more discussion I learned Vickie has an appointment with the US Embassy in February to get a visa and she thinks having a country stamp (Argentina) will help her case. I doubt that but I said Argentina is find and I’ll pay for our tickets and expenses but I’m not doing the planning for that.

I soon heard a commotion nearby. Next to this restaurant is the entrance to an apt building and next to it is another small restaurant. There were a couple small arborvitae trees blocking my view and all I could see is a young man sitting cross-legged next to the entrance, not moving, like he was meditating. A couple minutes later all hell breaks loose and people (even men from our restaurant) are running to the sidewalk next to the entrance. I couldn’t see what was going on, my best guess is they caught a thief. Ten minutes later, when all was quiet, two policemen showed up on a motorcycle. (By then the body could have already been disposed of. 😊)

They went to MT’s apt and I went across the street to the mall. Bancolombia was less than half full and I got a senior number and was called after only a 10-minute wait. I paid the strange bill we received yesterday from our portero, only 9,300 pesos so why question something so cheap.

I went downstairs to Urbania and had my usual hot latte and a glass of ice water. Teresa called me at 4:30 and asked me to meet her in IKEA for ice cream. They soon joined me, MT had some granola with yogurt, Vickie had coffee with a palito queso, Teresa had coffee with a small muffin and I had the ice cream cone, which comes in one flavor, vanilla, and one size, small but Vickie paid for everything.

When everyone finished, Teresa asked me if I want to return to the apt or go with them to look at a nursery home. We walked across the street, past the little café we’ve been to several times, turned north and past the MP station, the little church in the park and made a left.

It looks like it’s a repurposed home, with about a dozen old people gathered in the garage a couple of whom where being spoon fed. According to the sign at the doorway, we missed visiting hours by 18 minutes. 

Looking inside it appears the living room is now a partial office and I could see doorways off the main aisle leading toward the back. Teresa talked to someone inside but I guess they just said to come back tomorrow.

As they were headed back to MT’s apt, I said goodbye and returned to ours.

I sent the following Yahoo email to ChessBase support in The Netherlands: “I recently purchased a new Windows 11 laptop and reinstalled ChessBase 16 and the Mega Database 2020. Now Microsoft says I’m at 112% of my storage limit. In One Drive I see a Mega Database 2020.html folder containing lots of .jpg files. I purposely did not backup anything to One Drive for this very reason. Is this something ChessBase did? Is it something important to keep in One Drive or can I delete it?”

Teresa returned at 8pm and asked me what I thought of the nursing home and I told her I was not impressed. She explained that place is for those who need extra care so I hope they have nicer places even if it’s more expensive.

 

FUNNY

 

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Last night I took Diphenhydramine and Zopiclona tablets and went to bed at 10pm, slept through the night, finally waking/ getting up at 6:15.

The plan for today is the usual for a Wednesday: gym (if it doesn’t rain), lunch in Mayorca, Teresa has her crafts class.

I completed my workout in Smartfit and had a latte in Ganso y Castor before returning to the apt at 10am.

Using my new vice grips, I removed three of the holders (maybe someone can help me find a better word) for the DirecTV coaxial cable.

I completed another lesson, 3.2, on Rosetta Stone.

I met Teresa in Crepes & Waffles in Mayorca and I had a Cesar salad and a mango juice and she had a chicken crepe with a bottle of water for 79,500 pesos ($20).

We took a taxi back to Envigado and she got out down the hill from the cultural center and I continued on up the hill to the park. I had a latte in Los Portenos until 4pm then returned to the apt.

I left at 5pm, printed a recipe for hash browns in Spanish at the copy center then continued on to Eduardo Madrid Bakery.

Teresa arrived at 5:30 with the plan we would go to MT’s house and check up on her but Teresa talked to Martha and learned her mother was sleeping.

We stopped in Ara on the way back to the apt and bought a few groceries.

Teresa told me she wants her mother to get one of those walking canes but she doesn’t want one.

I’ve been having some problems with my blog, Blogger, where it is so slow it can take 30-seconds just to reposition the cursor. And when I try to go to Google Flights I can’t scroll down to is past the other links that come up. I asked ChatGPT for advice but its first suggestion, WiFi speed, doesn’t sound reasonable since I have fiber optic internet. I finally figured out that my VPN was set to Peru again.

I’ve been monitoring round trip flight costs to Chicago (layover in Houston) via United with cost varying from $550 to $689. I decided to check on one-way flights to Miami, Chicago, and Boston and ChapGPT game up with this:

$162 – Medellin to Chicago (I should have requested a Miami layover)

$181 – Medellin to Miami

$49 – Miami to Boston

$57 – Chicago to Boston

$113 x 2 – Boston to Medellin

$675 Total

Just when I was about to inform Teresa it might not be that expensive after all, she told me to forget about it and we’ll go to Boston next year. 😊

I finished season 3 of Reacher.

 

FUNNY

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Last night I took Diphenhydramine and Zopiclona tablets and went to bed at 10pm, got up twice during the night to pee and put on a little more Caladryl for the itching, finally waking/ getting up at 6:15.

Well, it finally happened, I forgot to bring the chess set.

I took a Didi to Unicentro mall and arrived just a couple minutes before they opened. Jose texted me he would be stopping at the ATM before meeting me in the restaurant. I took out usual table and he arrived 5 minutes later. He ordered an egg casserole and I the French toast. Teresa left me a voice mail message that Jose understood right away; I had forgotten the chess set.

After we finished eating, he went to his apt to retrieve his set while I went to 2 pharmacies and Medipiel to complete our Dermatologist’s prescription.

His chess clock didn’t work but I had him remove and reset the batteries and it worked for both our games.

I had the Black pieces in the first game and he was beating me soundly being up two pawns. But he misplayed an exchange and I ended up a Bishop and he resigned on the 45^th move.

I had the White pieces in the second game but I made an unsound sacrifice and lost in 33 moves.

It was just before 2pm and I knew traffic would be horrible so I deposited 125,000 pesos in Sindy’s Bancolombia account and took a Didi to Italian American Restaurant across the street from Estacion Suramericana.

I had their 11” pizza with Italian sausage and a Coke for 48mil.

It was very good, I ate 4 slices and got 2 slices to go. I figured the odds were 50-50 I would find someone to gift the leftovers to before I arrived at the metro station. Nope, I didn’t see anyone worthy.

It only costs something like $1 to take the metro from wherever you are to whatever station you want. I transferred at San Antonio and got off at Ayura and took a taxi back to the apt.

When I entered the apt Teresa explained her mother was getting an x-ray on her hand as it may have broken from her fall and we may need to go get her. (We never heard from her so supposedly she returned to the apt.)

Teresa told me a sob story about a man she met in the hospital waiting room whose daughter fell and broke her hip.

Supposedly, her surgery is tomorrow so we’re going to stop at the hospital and see if we can pay the bill of less than 200,000 pesos. We’re not sure if this is a scam or not but tomorrow, we’ll find out.

Much later, Laura sent us an article about a girl in the US that is in the hospital after consuming too much vodka. It’s the same girl/photo.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/mother-shares-disturbing-photos-15-000757172.html

At 9pm Teresa informed me that MT is still at the clinic. I asked her if she’s going to be sleeping there and Teresa responded they haven’t even read her x-ray yet. So, I have no idea what’s going on.

I watched another episode of Reacher then read some more of my book.

 

FUNNY

Monday, August 25, 2025

Last night I took Diphenhydramine and Zopiclona tablets and went to bed at 10pm, got up to put on more Caladryl for the itching, finally waking at 5am and getting up at 5:45.

Teresa wasn’t up yet to so I returned to bed and slept for another 45 minutes.

I left the apt at 8:30 for Smartfit. I completed my workout with some noticeable leaking.

This is what the façade of the new Pigasus restaurant looks like today:

I was having a latte in Ganso y Castor when two Promotor de Seguridad (Safety Promoter) confronted a young man nearby. My best guess is they told him to “move along”. He took offense and words were exchanged and as he moved to the north end of the park he threw his Styrofoam cup with coffee? Water? Juice? in their general direction. Soon the argument returned back near me and I recorded this video:

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

Using MagicJack and my new headphones, I purchased a discounted lifetime subscription to Rosetta Stone for $79. I connected to their website and completed Core Lesson 3.1, also using my new headphones.

Teresa and I discussed her mother who has fallen twice recently, once in the apt and once on the street. There is a nursing home nearby that charges 2,000,000 pesos a month but her mother isn’t interested. I told her she has to wait until her mother makes the decision for herself. I told her that’s where she can put me when I can no longer take care of myself.

I watched a couple more episodes of Reacher.

Well, my bites have lessened, not so itchy as last night so that’s progress.

 

FUNNY

 

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Last night I took Diphenhydramine and Zopiclona tablets and went to bed at 10pm, took a little while to fall asleep, finally waking at 6:45 and getting up at 8am.

Someone in a nearby building is playing Otis Redding’s Sittin on the Dock of the Bay.

At 11am I started the process of ordering a Didi. We picked up MT outside her building and continued on to Exposiciones station. We arrived by 11:45 and I was surprised there was already an El Retiro bus there. I paid 10,000 pesos per person fare and we arrived in El Retiro by 12:45. We walked up the hill and had lunch in Lomo Fino as usual for 151,000 pesos ($37.500). We walked down to El Retiro Café where I had a latte and Teresa had a granizado. I hung around there while they went for a walk. When they returned, we shared a slice of carrot cake although I must admit I ate most of it with another latte. With tip, the cost was exactly 50,000 pesos. At 4:45 we walked down to the bus terminal and got on the next bus for 10,200 pesos each. We arrived at Exposiciones station by 6:20 and caught a taxi back to Envigado. We dropped off MT at her apt then continued on to McDonald’s where Teresa had a McNifica combo and I a Quarter Pounder combo for a total of about 60,000 pesos.

I won a game vs Troyclough increasing my rating to 1563.

We walked back to the apt and I started my pre-sleep routine.

 

FUNNY

Saturday, August 23, 2025

Last night I took Diphenhydramine and Zopiclona tablets and went to bed at 10:30, took a little while to fall asleep, finally waking at 5:30 and getting up at 6am.

As I posted yesterday, today I watched the end of the game on NFL Game Pass where the Bears came back to beat the KC Chiefs 29-27. 😊

After breakfast I returned to bed and slept for an hour.

I left the apt at 10am and had a latte in a busy Los Portenos until noon. I stopped in Ara on the way back to the apt and bought lettuce.

I finished going through the photos and now I’m sure everything on the old computer is now on the new computer but they still need a lot of organizing.

After lunch we returned to bed and I slept for another hour.

I started reorganizing my old photos on my new computer and made some significant progress.

Teresa’s latest idea is we fly to Miami on a Friday where Laura meets her and they spend the weekend visiting her friend Nancy and I continue on to Chicago. Sunday they fly to Boston. After a week or so in Chicago I fly to Boston and spend a week or so with them. Then Teresa and I return to Medellin.

For supper we ordered food from Chiclayo but they don’t accept cash and in the end Laura placed the order and had her friend Sindy transfer pesos from her Bancolombia account and I’ll pay her back Monday.

Wanna Move: Oh, no, Teresa has the mite problem also.

I started watching season 3 of Reacher on Stremio.

 

FUNNY

 

Friday, August 22, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up at 12:30 and took half a Diphenhydramine tablet, finally falling asleep and waking/getting up at 7:30.

Teresa returned from her gym class at 8am and made breakfast.

It’s raining so I’ll be skipping gym today. Later I did a few exercises with my 7# dumbbell.

I left the apt at 9:30 and walked down to Avenda Las Vegas. A bus passed me as I arrived and I missed another because I wasn’t paying attention. I caught the next one and it was the usual 3,400 pesos (less than $1) and got off at Clinica Las Vegas. Inside I went up the 4^th floor to Doctora Cristina Maria Uribe Betancur, Consultorio 422 and I confirmed her office phone number 305 459 9489

The receptionist spoke a little English and I got an appointment for 11:30 and was told the fee would be 240,000 pesos ($60). I walked 3 blocks south to Mina Rica Café where I had a latte until 11am. After a trip to their restroom, I returned to the doctor’s office.

The doctor’s English wasn’t very good but she told me what I have is

She assured me it isn’t contagious and she gave me a long prescription of things to use to kill the little buggers in our bedding and on ourselves.

She not only said it was okay to take Diphenhydramine but she recommended it for Teresa also.

Lastly, I had her look at a couple skin tags that developed under my left armpit. She snipped them off with a small pair of scissors 😊 and I didn’t even need any topical anesthetic. The charge, even with the minor surgery, was still 240,000 pesos. 😊

Outside and across the street I soon caught a bus back to Envigado. (Strangely, I gave the driver 2 2,000-peso notes, he gave me a 2,000 bill back and some change so somehow the fare must have been less than the usual 3,400 or he messed up.)

As I entered the porteria the portero handed me my package.

It contained 2 pill containers (Teresa chose the blue one leaving me with the green one), the first chess book I had as a kid A.I. Horowitz’s How to Win in the Chess Openings, my 4 bottles of Joint Support and my new Capital One debit card which I activated right away.

I left the apt at 2:30, walked to the mall, recycled a few plastic containers, made an ATM withdrawal with my new Capital One debit card, and paid the 448,002-peso epm utility bill. At Exito’s pharmacy I bought a few items on the doctor’s list for 112,350 pesos. I was surprised to see they have Caladryl, even the new clear version.

In Home Center I purchased a pair (?) of vice grips for 71,900 pesos ($18).

I had a latte in Urbania and checked out my new chess book. It was the first chess book I remember every having: it was published in 1951 and it’s in the old descriptive notation. 😊

I left about 4pm and stopped in Exito and bought a bag of milk, a bag of microwave popcorn for tonight’s game, and a large carton of eggs.

I returned to the apt by taxi.

I ate my popcorn (supposedly extra butter but didn’t taste like it) and drank my Coke and watched the Bears lose to the Kansas City Chiefs 27-22.

More rain in the evening and it was still raining when I went to bed at 10:30.

Correction the next morning: So, I was watching the game, 1:36 left and KC was up by 5 got a first down so I figured they could run out the clock. I turned the game off at the (im)perfect time.  it turned out the 1st down pass was incomplete and Tyson Bagent played perfectly to bring the Bears back for the win 29-27. I just watched the end on NFL Game Pass.

 

FUNNY

 

Thursday, August 21, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once an hour later to close the door as Teresa was still talking to Wilson. Still awake at 1:30 I got up and took half a Diphenhydramine tablet, finally falling asleep somewhere around 2 or 2:30, waking/getting up at 7am.

 Teresa told me she had a bad night too, not falling asleep until 2am. She informed me Wilson will be having prostate surgery tomorrow morning. It’s not cancer but something to do with the urethra and they will remove half his prostate.

Our rashes seem to be getting worse, fortunately Teresa has a 10am appointment with a general practitioner.

I plugged in my new headphones and at least now I know the speaker portion works fine. I’ll try out the microphone another time.

My last game against Troyclough I missed a mate-in-two that I didn’t see and he checkmated me on his next move. My rating is now down to 1563.

I met Marcos outside Tostao where we discussed a number of things. He told me the water will be turned off in Envigado from 3pm Saturday to 5pm Sunday. ☹ He left and I found Michael with Carlos at a nearby table. I asked them about it and they said it would be intermittent but my building probably has a reserve water tank on the roof so I shouldn’t even notice a water problem. 😊 Michael informed me he’ll be leaving for Turkey next week and probably won’t return until December.

Peccato had their door open but still hadn’t brought out their tables and chairs so I just returned to the apt.

Teresa called at 10:30: the doctor doesn’t know what our skin problem is and she’s on her way to Itagui to get her semi-annual calcium injection.

I left the apt at 12:30 and took a Didi to Mi Casita Parilla and Teresa was just getting there herself. She ordered the Solomito (steak) after being ensured it was blandita (tender) so I did the same. Now a plate consists of a large portion of skirt steak, Fries, an arepa topped with a slice of cheese, and a small salad. We each had a Coke and the total came to 73,000 pesos ($18); very tasty for $9 apiece. I have to mention that Teresa finished all her food.

We walked down to Wilson’s Bocados Bar so Teresa could chat with him some more. She ordered a tinto (small coffee) and I a café con leche. She then ordered a bowl of frijoles and a strip of chicharron and ate it all. Wow, that doesn’t happen very often.

We returned to the apt by taxi.

We had a visit from our squab

And later the entire family

Returned to the nest (which is no longer there).

I started checking the folders on my new computer and have found a few without photos that I had to refill from my old computer.

Teresa and I started watching The Good Nurse (6.8) on Netflix.

FUNNY

 

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 4:15, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

I left the apt at 8am and completed my workout in Smartfit with little delay. I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for an hour then bought a sleeve of 6 sesame seed bagels in Eduardo Madrid Panaderia on the way back to the apt.

I finally remembered to empty my Recycle Bin which contained 930GB of data.

I received a message from Innovation Corp that my package was out for delivery.

I found I have some photo folders that are empty on my new laptop but contain photos on my old laptop which means now I’ll have to check all my folders to ensure they match.

I left the apt at 3pm and found Chris Cajoleas smoking a cigar in the park with his friend Carlos. Today is Chris’ 55^th birthday, which I learned when I saw him on FB yesterday smoking his pre-birthday cigar. I discovered he is Greek on his father’s side and we shared a few Greek memories like Greek picnics.

He left at 4pm and I had a latte in Los Portenos until 5pm when I moved to Eduardo Madrid Panaderia.

Teresa arrived at 5:30 and we shared a chicken pastry and latte.

We left at 6:15 and returned to our apt.

I’m having some intermittent Wi-Fi connection problems with my new laptop. I think it might have something to do with my VPN.

 

FUNNY

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

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

I unthreaded most of the old DirecTV coaxial cable but there’s one tight bend I can’t work around.

I ordered a Didi, traffic was heavy but I still arrived at Unicentro mall just before it’s 8am opening.

I had the Black pieces in the first game, he quickly traded queens but gave up the right to castle, I quickly built up an attack and he resigned on the 24^th move.

I had the White pieces in the 2^nd game and it was a closer game but I ended up resigning on the 34^th move.

It was only 12:40 when I ordered a Didi to take me to Viva Envigado. Traffic was horrible which reminded me to have lunch locally and make the trip to Envigado after.

I received an email from Innovation Corp that my order has arrived in Bogota and there is a $25.20 charge for delivery.

I had the granola bowl in Pergamino, made an ATM withdrawal and got in a short line to use the consignacion Multi-purpose ATM. After a 10-minute wait, I deposited 108,200 pesos in Innovation Corp’s saving account. I bought a new tech bag in Totto for 139,900 pesos as my old one is falling apart. In Claro I paid my cellphone bill for August. Downstairs in Home Center I bought a 3-piece Redline pliers kit for 71,900 pesos ($18). I was having a latte in Urbania when Teresa called at 3:30 and asked me to pick up red apples, green apples, and garlic in Exito. I left at 4pm, bought red apples (no decent looking green apples), garlic, and milk (just realized I forgot to pay the epm bill) and returned to the apt by taxi.

Our portero handed me a small package as I entered the porteria; my new headphones I ordered from Amazon with direct delivery to Envigado.

I watched another episode of Departure on Netflix and some news on IPTV.

 

FUNNY

Monday, August 18, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 6am, finally waking/getting up at 7:30.

The street is wet so it probably rained most of the night.

Today is another holiday, Assumption of Mary.

I left the apt at 9am and completed my workout in Smartfit, increasing each of my exercises by 5# plus adding an additional minute to the treadmill. (I’m now back at my previous high weight on most of my exercises.)

I had a café in Ganso y Castor, briefly meeting a gringo from Florida with his Colombian girlfriend and her French bulldog.

I left at 10:30 and stopped at Eduardo Madrid Panaderia only to find it closed (I forgot it’s closed Sundays & holidays).

I received this email response from Rosetta Stone,

Hello Terry,

Thank you for contacting Rosetta Stone!  Due to technology continuously changing, our CD-ROM and Digital Download products no longer function on modern operating systems. They are no longer sold or supported. Rosetta Stone is now hosted online. If you decide to purchase a new, online membership with us, you'll always have the latest editions and features on all your devices (computers, tablets, smartphones). I brought your case to my supervisor, who has granted me authorization to offer you a one- time promotional price to purchase the Lifetime Unlimited Languages subscription for $79 USD, plus any applicable tax. This membership typically costs $399 USD. If you would like to take advantage of this offer, please give us a call at 800-ROSETTA (800-767-3882), and select option 1 for Sales. Our Sales Team is available Monday-Friday, 8am-8pm Eastern Time. Would you like to learn more about our online experience? Find out more here: rosettastone.com/how-it-works Please let me know if you have any questions about this process. I'm happy to help! Want to give Rosetta Stone feedback? Click here to tell us about your experience and how we’re doing Thank you and have a great day!

Juan Carlos Rosetta Stone Support

 

I wrote back questioning their “modern operating systems” statement but I’ll probably end up taking advantage of their one-time offer.

I installed NordVPN on my new computer.

Still working on the labor-intensive process of copying my old photos to the new laptop.

By 8pm I finally finished copying all my photos from my old computer to the new computer. They still could use some organizing and I still haven’t addressed the issue of copying existing photos from my cellphone to the new computer.

 

FUNNY

Sunday, August 17, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm (it was raining), got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

Teresa suggested, instead of traveling to a pueblo today, we’ll have lunch in Valentina’s in El Tesoro.

Teresa finally had enough of our squatters and shooed them away and started cleaning the poop off the balcony. We’re also going to get rid of the planter so they won’t be tempted again to use it as a nest.

I ran Speedtest.net on my laptop and got a download speed of 321Mps and upload speed of 305Mps.

Teresa suggested, while I’m in Chicago, she could spend a week with Laura in Boston. Interesting idea, we could fly to Fort Lauderdale, for example, and she could continue on to Boston and I on to Chicago.

Now I’m having intermittent problems with my external hard drive.

Teresa and I discussed what to do today and finally settled on Mama Panda and I think I found a Pergamino just 4 blocks away where we could go for coffee after.

It’s going to take quite a while but I’m in the process of moving my very old photos from my old computer to the new one.

We left the apt at 1:30 and took a Didi to El Correo in the Provenza neighborhood of Poblado. (Yeah, I know.) Teresa ordered her chicken breast and I my usual steak Pimienta with a baked potato. A couple of my pieces of meat were rare, another piece was unchewable but the rest was tasty. Teresa didn’t want to go to Pergamino so we had lattes there with a slice of carrot cake. The check came to 231,957 ($57) including tip.

I ordered a Didi to take us back to Envigado but as we got up to leave, I heard some scrapping of chairs and on the other side of the room it appeared a man was helping a woman into a wheelchair but I didn’t see any wheelchair. For the first time I saw someone doing the Heimlich Maneuver. It looked like everything was under control so I didn’t interfere. Soon I could see the woman gasping for breath so everything turned out okay.

I copied more of my old photos to the new computer.

I enjoyed watching the Chicago Bears dismantle the Buffalo Bills 38-0 in their 2^nd preseason game.

 

FUNNY

Saturday, August 16, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm (it was raining), got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

The street is very wet so it probably rained most of the night.

The squab is sitting on the edge of the planter again like its thinking about flying up to the top of the balcony wall.

I took a Didi to Daniel’s barbershop and got my usual haircut for 50mil, including tip.

I took another Didi to Todo Drogas where I bought a large number of items for 571,500 pesos ($141).

I walked the 10 blocks to Ganso y Castor where I had a latte while going through my cellphone. It appears I can access my chess games via the cloud I just don’t know if that function is accessible without paying an additional fee. TBD.

When I left, I noticed Calle la Buena Mesa is getting a Pigasus restaurant in the near future.

Teresa reported the squab flew up to the top of the balcony railing, took a look around, then flew back to the planter.

I got Whatsapp installed on my new computer.

I can’t find the place/link to download Rosetta Stone but I did find support and sent them an email.

I got NFL Game Pass (DAZN) set up on my new computer.

I sent an email to NordVPN asking for their download link.

Now Teresa says there’s no hurry changing her breast implants this year and she wants to stay at Hotel Verano in Santa Marta. Only problem is they have no availability for our dates of December 23^rd to January 2^nd. I suggested we spend a week in SantaFe de Antioquia but she’s not interested. This close to the end of the year I don’t feel like searching for a new place to stay when most places are already reserved.

 

FUNNY

Friday, August 15, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, didn’t fall asleep until maybe 2am, finally waking/getting up at 6am.

On nights like that I should get up after the first hour and take a Diphenhydramine, only as an emergency.

Wait, when I got up, I saw the package of Zopiclona still on the kitchen table, did I forget to take it? That would explain a lot.

After breakfast, I returned to bed and slept a little over 2 hours. I took half an Excedrin, took a shower and felt much better.

Teresa left at 10:30 to take her mother to the Envigado Cultural Center and we’re going to meet up at Mi Casita Parilla just before 1pm for lunch.

I did a few arm exercises with my 7# dumbbell.

I got caught up on my blog posts; I didn’t realize I was so far behind.

11:20 it started raining.

Both pigeon parents are cooing a lot, obviously trying to get the baby to move his ass out of the planter.

Because I deleted my OneDrive contents some months ago, I now have to copy the ChessBase 16 database files from the old computer to the new computer.

At 12:30 I ordered a Didi to take me to Mi Casita Parilla. The app said the wait would be 5 minutes but it was more like 25 minutes but when the car did arrive it was an easy trip down Ave Poblado to the restaurant.

I got the last table (it’s a small place with only 4-5 tables) and Teresa and MT arrived 5 minutes later.

They had the chicken breast while I had the ribs. Everything was good, ribs, fries, and salad.

Teresa told me she found a new café nearby so we went there and it was obviously a converted house and garage. A big place but I don’t know how they pay the rent with so few customers.

We left about 2:30, the Didi dropped off MT at her apt then took back streets to our complex because Ave Las Vegas was closed for some reason.

I ran next door to Ara and bought a bag of milk.

I finally got ChessBase 16 setup on my new computer. 😊

Next, I’ll try to tackle Rosetta Stone, now that I found the Activation IDs.

The rain continued most of the evening.

About 9pm some man out on the street was yelling for about 10 minutes, which got a couple neighborhood dogs barking and even after he stopped yelling they were still barking even as I was going to bed at 10pm.

 

FUNNY

Thursday, August 14, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 3:15, couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up and started working on my new laptop.

It rained overnight and it’s still raining.

Teresa has some rash in various locations on her body and is now using the old bottle of Caladryl I brought from the States.

I downloaded Teresa’s lab results from her Monday blood test and put it on my USB memory stick for printing. Everything looks good, at least to my untrained eye.

I balanced my USAA checking account.

I made some progress on downloading ChessBase 16 then got stuck and emailed them. I think I’ll return to bed (it’s 5:15) while I wait for a reply.

I got up again at 6:45, had breakfast and returned to bed for another hour.

I met Marcos outside Tostao at 9:30. He says Johana thinks she might have breast cancer so she’ll be having lots of tests in the near future. We talked about our respective football teams, tariffs, and the Reacher series. I mentioned Alan Richman and Marcos shared he used to hang out with the body builder Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk) when he lived in New York; Lou was deaf at the time.

He left just after 10 because it looked like rain and since Peccato hadn’t opened yet I just returned to the apt.

Teresa wasn’t back yet from her manicure appointment.

My Amazon order has shipped and should be here by next Friday the 22^nd.

I get so many fraudulent calls each day I put my ringtone on vibrate only.

The guy who rents our parking spot stopped by and paid 270,000 pesos for July, August, and September.

The squab is fluffing his feathers so he’ll probably be out of here soon.

I had problems with getting iTunes to work that took me a few hours to fix but ChatGPT helped point me in the right direction. I had moved the songs to the wrong file folder, I hadn’t pointed iTunes to the songs’ location, and per Apple, “5 computers are authorized to play content with this Apple Account.” I had to release a computer (the old one) so I could authorize my new one to use the Apple Id.

Well, it’s 1:30 in the afternoon and it took me this long to get my iTunes files copied correctly to my new computer and then I had to figure out an old password to go with my Apple ID so all of my songs would be available.

 

I left the apt at 3pm, printed Teresa’s blood test results (all good) at the Bancolombia kiosk then had a latte in Los Portenos. The steakhouse next door has closed for good, they were open for what, a year? I left at 5pm and returned to the apt.

I copied the Downloads file to my new laptop.

I checked out the next Kindle book using my library card.

Now I’ve got a rash also. Teresa denied using anything different to wash our clothes so I have no idea what’s causing it.

 

FUNNY