Tuesday, November 4, 2025

Last night I took my Diphenhydramine and Zopiclona tablets, went to bed at 10pm, but couldn’t figure out why I didn’t fall asleep right away.

At 1:30 I heard a loud voice, got up, poked my head out the window and the noise came from the porteria across the street (couldn’t tell if it was live or a radio). I texted Jose I couldn’t sleep so won’t be playing chess today.

At 4am we had a short rain shower.

At 5:45 I got up and that’s when I saw my sleeping pills on the table where I had left them. ☹

It really makes for a long night when you aren’t able to sleep.

At 6am Teresa got up and I brought her up to date on everything.

I showered, dressed and took a Didi to the Cedimed clininc in Poblado. I checked in with the girl at the entrance and she handed me a small plastic container for my urine test.

It was a 5-minute wait to pay 407,000 pesos ($106) for a full blood workup which I paid for with my debit card.

It was another 5 minutes before I was called in back by the phlebotomist. I showed her my list of vitamins, supplements and medications I’m currently taking and explained I didn’t sleep at all last night. (I don’t think she cared.) She withdrew 2 tubes of blood and put on one of those small circular Band-Aids. I went to the restroom and filled the urine container and while washing my hands my puncture site started bleeding. (That’s why I usually bring my own US Band-aid to put over their little one.) It was a little awkward drying my hands with a paper towel in the crook of my arm to staunch the bleeding. I went back to the phlebotomist, handed her my urine sample and she changed Band-aids for me. I sat in the waiting room for another five minutes to ensure the bleeding had stopped.

I ducked into Il Capuccino but didn’t see eggs on their menu so I took a taxi to Viva Envigado for 20,400 pesos.

It was only 7:30 when I entered the mall and was a little surprised there wasn’t security to stop me. I went up to the banking area and saw that Av Villas doesn’t open until 8am. I used that time at the consignacion ATM to pay for our health insurance, gym membership and Medellin TV. I tried two different ATMs but one told me it didn’t have cash and the other had a problem with my card. I used the Davivienda ATM to withdraw 2,000,000 pesos twice using my two different debit cards.

It was only a 3-minute wait for Av Villas to open and after a short wait I paid the apt rental.

Santa Leña was now open and I took a table in the back. It's the same menu

but they didn’t have French toast (no bread) so I ordered pancakes (oatmeal) with two scrambled eggs. The waitress came back to ask if I wanted the combo with a croissant which sounded like a good idea at the time. I also had two lattes and the check came to 81,475 pesos. I was uncomfortably stuffed and couldn’t finish the croissant.

I took the back elevator down to Exito where I purchased a six-pack of Coke and a bottle of BBQ sauce before returning to the apt by taxi.

I went to bed at 10:15 but don’t think I really slept – at least not deeply. I got up at 11:30 and it was drizzling outside – so much for it being the end of the rainy season.

I finally updated my blog with Monday’s post.

My stomach was a little upset and I didn’t feel like going out for coffee so I helped Teresa look on Amazon for jewelry rings (hoops).

Teresa's latest bracelet with magnetic clasp:

I watched 2 more episodes of The Diplomat on Netflix, the 40-minute version of Sunday’s Bears victory on NFL Game Pass, then election results on MSNBC (soon to be MS NOW).

 

It was raining lightly as I went to bed at 10pm, took a minute to get my feet warm (blanket doubled but not quadrupled, no socks), did my Kegel exercises and quickly fell asleep.

 

FUNNY