Monday, November 17, 2025

Last night I took my Diphenhydramine and Zopiclona tablets and went to bed at 10pm. It was still raining. I fell asleep quickly, got up once at 5am, finally waking/getting up at 6am.

Today is a holiday – Cartagena Independence Day.

I forgot to mention I completed 2,995 steps yesterday.

Now we have the pigeons coming in the apt every morning expecting food. And yes, Teresa is feeding them. At one point I got up from the desk and was standing between the pigeon and its exit but it didn’t panic, probably because I wasn’t threatening it. I think they are the parents of the bird that was hatched on our balcony.

After breakfast I had a 30-minute nap then left at 8:30 for Smartfit which I found busier than expected.  A man was standing next to the Butterfly machine and I motioned to him and the machine to see if he was using it. In very good English he said we can share it. He confirmed he was Colombian and I told him his English was very good - he must have really paid attention in English class. He chuckled and told me he’s been told that before. I told him from his accent I would have guessed he was English or Australian.

I ran into another man wearing a Chicago half-marathon t-shirt. He didn’t speak English but told me he was in Chicago visiting this August.

Another man was wearing a t-shirt that said, “ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY” and I asked if he knew what the words mean. He said “no” so I google translated it for him to “por supuesto que si!” but with the words mixed up.

I completed 15 minutes on the treadmill at 6 km/hr with no elevation and my blood pressure got no higher than about 130-132 bpm.

I was walking past the restaurant El Trifasico and surprisingly it was open and a man and woman were sitting at a front table. I asked if they are only open on holidays. The woman invited me in but I said I had other plans. She said she would be waiting for me and I said maybe tonight.

I took a seat at Ganso y Castor and was enjoying my latte when a man sat at the next table. His name is “Thomas”, he’s from Germany, his apt is behind San Marcos church and he moved here about 4 months ago to get away from the cold.

Teresa called and asked me to buy salt on the way back to the apt.

I left at 10:45, stopped at Ara for the bag of salt and returned to the apt.

Teresa had me take a coconut down to the garage where I smashed it against the cement floor to break it into pieces.

The wound on my shin is healing nicely; I just keep it moist by putting petroleum jelly on it after my shower and before going to bed.

My Amazon package just arrived in Florida and I asked everything in my locker to be released.

I was so stuffed after lunch I didn’t want to move so I just collapsed on the recliner.

The pigeons were back begging for food so Teresa gave me some sesame seeds that I held in my hand and they were wary but they did peck a little out of my hand.

I watched a couple more episodes of Downton Abbey on Netflix.

I completed 4,262 steps today.

 

FUNNY