Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 12:15, again at 5am but couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up at 5:30 to start my day.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,470 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 3 hours and 43 minutes.

I woke up with a slight headache so I took half an Excedrin.

I wanted to take a 45-minute nap, figuring 15 minutes to fall asleep and sleeping 30 minutes but ChatGPT suggested I only sleep for 35 minutes. I set an alarm for 35 minutes but unfortunately could not sleep at all.

I went to add a piece of lemon to the tea I had just made and found my lemon to be moldy. ☹  That’s probably why ChatGPT suggested I freeze some lemon juice.

I left the apt at 8:15 and found Smartfit very busy until it lessened, as usual, around 9am. I completed my workout including 21 minutes on the treadmill with a final heartrate of 120bpm. I’m still dealing with lower leg fatigue so ChatGPT suggested I reduce my treadmill time to 18 minutes.

I encountered this Ferrari GT4 being serviced in the corner service station.

Someone here has money.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about an hour. Teresa texted me that her gym class has been cancelled so we’ll be having lunch at home. I won a game vs chesswiz98 increasing my rating to 1540. I accepted a game against Mr-Santos who is rated 1545 so we’ll see how that goes. I left after about an hour and returned to the apt.

Annie James with mommy.

Teresa left at 2pm for her crafts class and I left at 3pm and printed a few documents in Bancolombia kiosk, then went to Los Porteños where I had a latte.

I found Teresa waiting for me when I arrived at Eduardo Madrid at 5:15. We shared a sandwich and latte before returning to the apt.

I watched Sisu (6.9) on Netflix; The Handmaid’s Tale will arrive on May 8^th.

I watched some news then started my pre-sleep reading.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at midnight, got up again at 4am but couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up at 6am just as Teresa was leaving for her gym class.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 8.236 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 3 hours and 14 minutes.

I left the apt at 7:15 and took a Didi to Unicentro mall for 15,200 pesos. I arrived early enough to buy a banana and walk once around the mall.

I took a seat in Parmessano and Jose joined me after his usual trip to an ATM. He had an egg dish with Italian sausage that I think I’ll try next time but today I continued with the French toast and my own maple syrup. (The problem with their French toast is the bread is so thick it’s barely toasted.)

We adjourned to the food court where I lost two close games. Enough said!

It was just before 2pm when we finished and I ordered a Didi to take me to Viva Envigado for 23,100 pesos. There must have been a problem on the expressway because for the first part of the trip he took side streets.

At the mall I went up to Sarku’s where I had their teriyaki chicken again. I withdrew 2,000,000 pesos (all 100s) from a Servibanca ATM then went downstairs and had a latte in Urbania. (I got the 100s because on Thursday I’ll probably be returning to the mall to start paying May’s bills.) I left after an hour and bought a large carton of eggs after waiting in a slow line (only 3 cashiers) in Exito. I returned to the apt by taxi.

For supper I just had a small bowl of cereal.

I watched some news then started my pre-sleep reading.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Monday, April 27, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 2pm, woke up at 5:30 and got up at 6am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,470 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 20 minutes.

Teresa got up at just before 7am (obviously missed her 6am gym class), made my breakfast and went back to bed.

I had a 30-40-minute nap on the recliner.

I left the apt just before 9am and left a single kernel peanut in the container attached to the tree for the squirrel. I found Smartfit about as busy as usual. I added 5# to my machines and completed 21 minutes on the treadmill at 5 ½ kph.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for an hour before returning to the apt.

Teresa asked where I’m going for coffee this afternoon and I told her Los Porteños. She asked if I could have coffee at Fika instead and she would join me after meeting with a friend at the cultural center. I asked if she was sure her friend wouldn’t cancel leaving me sitting there alone. She assured me she would join me regardless. I left at 2pm and took the shorter, hillier route. I had a latte and worked on flights for roundtrip to Boston. It doesn’t look like its going to work unless I want a 12-hour layover in Charlotte on the way back. ☹

Troyclough resigned our latest game on the 26^th move (one move before I checkmated him) increasing my rating to 1535.

I consulted with ChatGPT about fixing the rattling in my toilet and it appears I’ll have to replace the entire fill valve.

I had a latte and a delicious slice of carrot cake.

Teresa joined me about 4pm and ordered a couple chicken empanadas for us to share and a cold coffee.

We left at 5:45 and stopped in Ara to pick up some groceries. There was only one cashier and a line and we didn’t return to the apt until 6:30.

I watched some news then the first half of The Rachel Maddow Show, then started my pre-sleep reading.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Sunday, April 26, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm and woke/got up at 7am. 😊

According to my Fitbit, I got in 10,346 steps yesterday (a record) and last night I slept for 5 hours and 12 minutes.

We left the apt at 10:15 by Didi, picked up MT at her complex and continued on to Exposiciones metro station.

An El Retiro bus soon arrived and I paid 36,000 pesos for the three of us. Some seats were already taken but our preferred seats in the back were available. We arrived at El Tesoro by 12:15. Teresa found a new leather store and spent some time perusing the wares. As we left the store some raindrops started which soon turned into a light drizzle.

There was no wait in El Lomo where the ladies ordered chicken breast and I the Solomito (steak).

The check came to 171,000 pesos ($48) which I paid by debit card. It was pouring outside and Teresa was in no hurry to leave but there was a line outside so I insisted we move to El Retiro Café. I loaned the ladies my umbrella while I hugged the wall on the way to the café.

MT and I had lattes and Teresa her cold coffee (granelada?) while she worked on a bracelet and I studied my phone.

Annie James

The check was only 43,200 pesos, we left at 4pm and walked down the hill to the bus station where a bus was ready to leave. The bus became standing room only and it was an hour and 45 minutes back to Medellin. We quickly caught a taxi which returned us to Envigado for 18,000 pesos.

I caught the last episode of 60 Minutes, finished watching Apex (6.2) on Netflix then finished John Grisham’s Playing for Pizza on my Kindle. That makes 15 books I’ve read so far this year.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

 

Saturday, April 25, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at midnight, again at 4:30, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 4,867 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 3 hours and 8 minutes.

We were out of milk so I made a quick trip next door to Ara so I would have pancakes but when I returned discovered we’re out of Bisquick. ☹ Instead, I had my usual 2 scrambled eggs and an English muffin.

We received a package which contained more purse handles for her craft projects but Teresa had told me the woman who installs them is no longer doing that. I asked her why she doesn’t learn how to do it and she explained it’s more complicated than that because she uses a special machine. ☹

I left the apt at 8:45 and took a Didi to Daniel’s barbershop where I got my usual haircut.

Next to the church I found a papeleria where I printed the details of the Bears first 2 draft picks. I continued on to Todo Drogas where I purchased my medications for the coming month for 203,250 pesos ($62).

I returned to La Buena Mesa where I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about 90 minutes before returning to the apt.

Teresa was just leaving to meet her mother in Viva Envigado and she’ll call me later regarding lunch.

I hadn’t heard from Teresa so I left the apt at 2pm and around the corner encountered a baby squirrel in a tree eating something.

When he finished, he was curious enough to come down lower but wary enough not to get too close. I ended up leaving a peanut in the crook of the tree and he came down and grabbed it then moved higher and started eating it. They hold the peanut at each end with a paw and start eating in the middle.

I continued on to Clap Burger. Today they didn’t have the menus out as they had a special, something they called a Huli which was quite tasty once I removed the chicharron. (Later I confirmed with Alejandro that it was part of the annual Burger Master contest.)

Teresa called and asked me to meet her and her mother at IKEA at 5pm. At 3:30 a downpour started that lasted about an hour. I returned to the apt for a minute then continued on to the mall.

In IKEA I didn’t see them so I went up to the 2^nd floor and took a seat in the restaurant. I called Teresa and she asked me to meet them in Crepes & Waffles. I found them at a table in the back. They each had a shrimp crepe plate and I, being full, just had a glass of water.

When they finished, and I went through the usual delay in getting and paying for the check, we walked outside and quickly caught a taxi. We dropped MT off at La Bahia and continued on to our apt.

I started watching a movie called Apex (6.2) on Netflix. At 8:45 I turned it off and started my pre-sleep reading and went to bed at 10pm.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Friday, April 24, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, took a while to fall asleep, got up once at 12:30, took a while to fall asleep, got up again at 3:15, finally woke up at 5:45 and got up at 6am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 7,013 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 15 minutes.

After breakfast, at 8:15 I set an alarm for 45 minutes and returned to bed for a nap and slept for about 30 minutes.

I left the apt at 9am and around the corner encountered a baby squirrel in the bushes. He looked at me holding a peanut and was curious but too skittish to take it. I left a single kernel peanut in the bush for it to find.

I was a little surprised Smartfit was so busy this morning. I had to occasionally wait or change the order of my routine but still completed all my exercises including 21 minutes on the treadmill at 5 ½ kph.

I won a game vs Troyclough on the 13^th move, increasing my rating to 1529.

Daniel finally timed out on our game he was losing, increasing my rating to 1530.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about an hour before returning to the apt.

After lunch I discovered the Pat McAfee show on ESPN and watched quite a bit of that, occasionally switching to the news.

Teresa got a massage from Kelly from 4-5pm. Teresa reported that Kelly’s vision is much poorer now from her diabetes complication.

I tuned in to the draft before the 6pm start. The Bears selected Logan Jones, C, from Iowa for their 57^th pick. They moved down from the 60^th to 69^th pick to add another draft slot where they selected Sam Roush, TE, from Stanford. I turned off the TV at 8:30 and started my pre-sleep reading during which the Bears selected Zavion Thomas, WR, from LSU.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 12:30, fell asleep quickly, got up again at 5:30, went back to bed but soon got up at 6am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 7,556 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 29 minutes.

I left the apt at 8:30 and stopped at the Bancolombia kiosk to reprint my chess games, this time both sides. I continued on to VitaminFit (Carrera 41 #35sur-28) and arrived at 9am just as the girl was raising the overhead door. I bought a larger container, 1#, of Creatine Monohydrate and a different brand, Nutricost, for 139,000 pesos.

I continued on to a tienda naturista where I purchased a bottle of Omega 3 for 46,400 pesos. I stopped in Exito and bought the Alpina crema de leche Teresa requested. I returned to La Buena Mesa where I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about 90 minutes before returning to the apt.

I won a game vs Troyclough in 22 moves, increasing my rating to 1526. I played Chesswiz98 to a draw, lowering my rating to 1524.

I left the apt at 3pm and had a latte in Gardenia while going over my games against Jose. In the next room a lot of old ladies were having a birthday party.

Annie James in her new bathing suit, getting ready for summer.

I left at 4:30 and returned to the apt.

I killed some time until the 2026 NFL Draft started at 7pm. I found it on the ESPN channel on Medellin TV. This year each team was given only 8 minutes for their selection and things moved along nicely. As each player was taken, I crossed their name off my Top 100 list.

The Chicago Bears, with the 25^th pick in the draft, chose Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman. I stayed up until the end so my list would be up-to-date and I ended up going to bed at 10:30, without benefit of my pre-sleep routine.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Wednesday, April 22 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 1am, took a while to fall back asleep, got up again at 5:30, went back to bed but soon got up at 6am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 7,450 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 3 hours and 53 minutes.

Teresa and I agreed to meet outside Crepes & Waffles in Mayorca at 1pm for lunch.

It was just after 8am and I had put on my gym clothes and was putting on my shoes while sitting on the bed. It occurred to me the gym was going to be really crowded at this hour and my eyes felt tired. I laid down on the bed careful to keep my shoes off it. About 10 minutes later Teresa came in and I told her “solo unos minutos”. Then I quickly fell asleep and woke up 30 minutes later. I left the apt at 8;45 and found Smartfit about as busy as usual for this time. I completed my workout including 21 minutes on the treadmill at 5 ½ kph.

I walked across a busy Ave Poblado (and probably will be for months while under construction) and on to Ganso y Castor. At one point I noticed I couldn’t wag my right foot up and down. I’m guessing I was pinching a nerve sitting on the chair because after I shifted my weight and moved it around a bit it was fine. I had a latte for about an hour, bought a banana as I left and returned to the apt.

I left the apt at 12:15 and took a Didi to Mayorca mall. I recycled a couple eyedrop bottles, printed my chess games at a little store in the basement then took the elevator up to the 4^th floor where I met Teresa in Olivia.

She had some chicken plate special while I had the lasagna mixta (chicken and ground beef). I had a mango juice and she had a pineapple juice for a total of 123,026 pesos, including tip.

Well, the dollar has fallen against the peso for the past year, guess whose fault that is?

We returned to Envigado by taxi and Teresa got out just down the hill from the cultural center and I got out just down the street from Los Porteños. I tried replacing the bracelet for my Fitbit but it appears there’s a part missing, 2 small metal spring pins. The bag was open at the top and they could have fallen out anywhere including the shipping bag I threw away or when Teresa opened the package before me. ☹

I reviewed my games with Jose even though I forgot to bring my yellow highlighter.

After a couple hours I didn’t feel like waiting a couple more hour to meet Teresa so I returned to the apt. I left at 5:15 and only had a 15-minute wait for her to arrive at Eduardo Madrid. We shared a cheese croissant and latte and on the way back to the apt stopped in Ara for some groceries. I found a young man working there that spoke some English with good pronunciation – so far.

I watched some news before starting my pre-sleep routine.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Tuesday, April 21 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 2:15, fell back asleep quickly, got up again at 5:45, went back to bed until my alarm went off at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,425 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 19 minutes.

I left the apt just after 8:15 and arrived at Unicentro mall 20 minutes before 9 for 16,400 pesos. I bought a banana for 1,000 pesos and walked twice around the outside of the mall.

I met Jose in Parmessano where we had our usual breakfast. My French toast with a side of scrambled eggs, a latte and a bottle of water to go comes to 55,000 pesos.

We moved to the food court where I had the Black pieces in the first game. I got a strong attack against him but again ended with a draw. (The computer had me winning and showed me the one move I made a little too quickly that threw away my win.)

We were just starting the second game when I got a cramp in my left thigh. Jose suggested I see a doctor about that because it was when he got a calf cramp that a blood clot went to his lungs leading to his heart attack. ☹ Yikes!

For the second game it was close until the middle game where he found a way to break through and I lost.

It was about 2pm we finished and I ordered a Didi to take me to Viva Envigado for 22,000 pesos For the first time in a long time the driver took the back streets (accident on the expressway?) and it took about 45 minutes.

I had the chicken teriyaki with a Pepsi in Sarku’s.

Today for some reason the salad didn’t taste the same so I didn’t finish it.

I went down to Urbania and had a latte for about an hour. Teresa called and asked me to pick up Fab in Ara. I left at 4pm

And withdrew 2,000,000 pesos (all 50s) from the ATM outside Exito. Finally today asked for help from an Exito employee to find the Mexican salsa for my fajitas. Even they couldn’t find it or the store was out of stock. I bought a few imported oranges, a large pack of toilet paper and a 9-volt battery and had to wait in a long slow line to pay. I returned to the apt by taxi.

I dropped everything off then went to Eduardo Madrid where I picked up my order of 16 bagels, stopped in Ara where I bought green apples for Teresa, a package of Fab laundry detergent and a bag of milk.

In the porteria, Julio handed me my package which contained my new Fitbit strap, a Kindle cover and my “missing” scissors.

Teresa wants us to go to Ikea and buy the full-length mirror she saw a year ago and new place mats for the dining room table. She said that’s not because we’re going to have a visitor. (Vickey, Laura’s friend, is supposed to stay with us a couple nights early next month.) Yeah, right! She also mentioned getting rid of one of our three beds. If we did, that would probably give her space where she could work on her craft projects.

About 7:15 a downpour started and we soon had lightning and I had to unplug everything.

I had the computer do a tactical analysis on each of today’s games and I’ll print and review them tomorrow.

I watched some news, then started reading my next John Grisham novel.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

 

Monday, April 20, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 3:30, fell back asleep quickly, awakened at 4:15 by a small cramp in my right calf, got back to sleep quickly, woke up at 5:30 and got up at 6:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 1,261 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 58 minutes.

I left the apt at 8:30 and found Smartfit not very busy today. Since I didn’t get to the gym last week, I reduced my weights by 10# and just did my 21 minutes on the treadmill at 5 ½ kph. Today the Abdominal Crunch machine was working so it was nice to be able to add that back in my routine.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about 90 minutes. I observed 2-3 people carrying large, but not heavy, Fokuss (the lighting store) boxes down the hill of the park. I’m guessing a local delivery of lamps.

I stopped in Eduardo Madrid and ordered 16 English muffins for pickup tomorrow afternoon.

I stopped in Ara and bought a package of lettuce for our lunch but had to wait in a slow line.

At 3:30 Teresa and I took a Didi to a parking garage across from the Dollar City on Calle 37 sur where she picked up an old purse left from her friend Ana. Across the street she checked out Dollar City “because they are all different’ (to me they are all the same) but didn’t find anything. Outside we quickly caught a taxi that we planned to take to Gardenia for coffee but because there were a few raindrops we just returned to the apt.

I finished season 2 of The End of Us but now I have to wait until 2027 for season 3. ☹

I watched some news, including the first half of The Rachel Maddow Show then finished reading John Grisham’s The Brethren

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Sunday, April 19, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, took a while to fall asleep,

Was rudely awakened at 2:20am by a cramp in my left calf. After I worked that out and made a trip to the restroom, I wasn’t able to get back to sleep. I got up at 3:30 and watched some TV. I returned to bed at 5am and finally fell asleep, waking at 7am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 7,196 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 53 minutes.

We decided to have breakfast at home and later we’ll go to El Tesoro mall.

About 12:30 Teresa came up with another plan. We left the apt at 1:15 and took a Didi to El Correo for 12,100 pesos. Teresa had the chicken breast while I had the ribs. We were in no hurry but the sky got darker and it got windy so I paid the check of 203,900 pesos and we returned to the apt by Didi for 13,000 pesos. There were a few raindrops as we returned but they didn’t turn into anything more.

Annie James with daddy Jacob:

I watched a couple more episodes of The Last of Us on Stremio.

I beat Chesswiz98 and drew Troyclough, increasing my rating to 1521.

I watched 60 Minutes, some news and then it was time to start my pre-sleep routine.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

Saturday, April 18, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm fell asleep quickly, got up once at 1am, fell back asleep quickly, woke up but didn’t get up at 4am, fell back asleep quickly, finally waking at 6am and got up with Teresa at 6:30.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,182 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 4 hours and 11 minutes.

I left the apt at 8:45 and walked to the mall. I recycled a pill bottle then went up to the banking area and withdrew 2,000,000 pesos, all 100s. ☹

I went down to Urbania and had a latte while going over my endgame book. I read an article about Chicago’s O’Hare airport being more congested this summer. ☹

I left at 11am and checked the tienda naturista upstairs for my preferred brand of Omega-3 capsules

but they didn’t have it.

I stopped in Auros and printed Dane Brugler’s (The Athletic) NFL Draft Guide Top 100. This is so I can “keep score” of the NFL Draft next Thursday and Friday nights.

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

After dropping off the groceries I went next door to Ara and bought dishwashing paste and a few bananas.

I left the apt at 2:30 and had a latte in a pretty busy Gardenia. About 4pm my table was hit by the sun and I eventually was able to take a table more inside.

Teresa texted and asked me to pick up coconut Gelato. I left at 5:15 and got in line at a busy Antonio’s Gelato. It was only 30,000 pesos for a half liter of coconut gelato. Somebody may have messed up because I thought it used to be closer to 50,000 pesos.

I returned to the apt and we each had a small bowl of coconut gelato.

I finished season 1 of The End of Us on Stremio then started my pre-sleep routine.

The plan for tomorrow is for us to have breakfast somewhere in the Manila neighborhood of Poblado.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

 

Friday, April 17, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 2am, fell asleep quickly, finally waking at 6am and got up with Teresa at 7:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,479 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 55 minutes. Very good!

Breakfast at the hotel. Today I tried the waffles con chocolo with scrambled eggs and bacon. Not too bad.

I found another article from Bob Burford about Gracie Slick and posted it.

Teresa surprised me by asking if I wanted to check out today and return to Medellin. I told her, “No”, I’ve already paid for another night.

I see the same 3 guys still here so they must have stayed overnight. Also, there is a couple with 2 young girls having breakfast.

Per Amazon, Teresa’s purse handles are scheduled to arrive next Saturday, April 25^th.

About 10:15 we showered and dressed and followed Clare, the owner, to her other location 2 ½ blocks away called Casa Al Alma. The space is large, perfect for a large family.

We returned to our room.

I was sitting on the bed when Teresa called out “scorpion” and pointed to something next to my gym shoes. All I could see was a dark blob and it wasn’t moving so I took my cellphone and turned on my magnifying glass app which included a flashlight and this is what I saw:

Of course, these photos were taken after I had smashed it 3 times with one of my flip flops. With that, I changed my mind and we decided to return to Medellin today, one day early.

I paid the bill for our meals other than breakfast of 839,868 pesos ($233) including 10% for tips, we packed and walked ½ block to a different Jumaye where we had lunch, salmon for Teresa and chicken breast for me, plus two Cokes came to 110,550 pesos, including tip. A children’s religious procession came by in the street.

We left at 4:30 and walked down the hill and caught a bus just about to leave for Medellin for 20,000 per person.

We arrived at Terminal Norte just before 6pm. Teresa asked someone about catching a Tratam bus to Envigado but they only leave from Terminal Sur. We walked to the metro and only had a 5-minute wait for a train. In Ayura station there was a short line for a taxi but I ordered a Didi to take us back to our complex.

We unpacked, I watched a little news on Medellin TV then started my pre-sleep routine.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY

BOB BURFORD

 Grace Slick -- It was the mid-1970s, I had moved back to the Bay Area from Reno and was living in San Jose. A friend of mine lived in the Sunset District of The City. I had planned to meet him at his house at noon. I got there an hour early because I hadn’t factored into my schedule that it was a Sunday. There’s no traffic on Sunday, so I made it there in record time. 

I parked in front of a tropical fish and aquarium store a couple of blocks away and got settled in for an hour’s wait. The fish store was open but nary a single customer entered. After getting thoroughly bored, I decided to go into the fish store just to look around. There weren’t very many stores along that stretch of the street; maybe three or four buildings in that block with vacant lots in between. It is primarily a residential neighborhood.

A twenty-something young man offered to help me but I told him I was just killing time. Apparently he had nothing better to do because he began telling me about his fish in detail. Beautifully colored salt-water fish, some eight or ten inches long. Uncommonly brilliant colors. As we were touring the store, a very attractive, gregarious, well-put-together young lady walked in and joined our tour. Introducing ourselves, she said she was Grace Slick. I recognized the name, but only vaguely. If she had been a jazz vocalist I certainly would have known her. But Jefferson Airplane? Not so much. The likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Carmen McRae, Anita O’Day, etc. do it for me.

Grace was actually interested in the fish and asked some very interesting questions that never would have occurred to me to ask. The guy showing us around the store offered to come down to San Jose and set up a salt-water aquarium for me. I was intrigued. If you know what you’re doing, after about nine months you’ll have a colorful array of fish that doesn’t require feeding; they survive on their own in the mini oceanic ecosystem they’ve created.

 

Time had evaporated and the clock was showing twelve noon. I asked the store clerk if there were any restaurants in the neighborhood. That’s when Grace asked me if I’d be interested in crossing The (Golden Gate) Bridge and having lunch at a “hip little restaurant” with a great Sunday buffet. It sounded like a great idea to me so we hopped in my car and headed for Sausalito. I really can’t remember if the restaurant was in Sausalito, Mill Valley, Tiburon … some­where thereabouts. But she was absolutely correct, I think. The buffet was scrumptious. But that could have been my lady companion, too. Her obvious intellect and very cool personality could make peanut butter and crackers a memorable gourmet event. It was obvious she was definitely a lady of substance.

Anyway, it occurred to me that she obviously had a car left parked on the street near the fish store so I assumed I would be taking her back into the city for her car. “No, I’ll have someone pick it up.” And that was the beginning and end of that issue. Instead, she gave me directions to her house where I dropped her off. We said our goodbyes and that was that. After that, I listened to Grace Slick every chance I got. It was a veritable awakening.

 

Given the quality and nature of her voice, I can’t not help but wonder what she would do with some traditional jazz standards such as “Midnight Sun,” “Something Cool,” “Georgia,” “Darn that Dream,” etc. I’m thinking of Rod Stewart doing a full-blown big band album of jazz standards. It was the first of a few he did and it won for him his only Grammy, very well deserved. Barry Manilow was afraid to ask traditional jazz players to play on a jazz album he wanted to make. At his manager’s suggestion, they made a call to a jazz legend who was eager to do the project. The album went gold. Several artists of that era dove into the big band jazz thing and never looked back. I’m of the opinion such an album by Grace Slick would be something to behold; y’know, powerful voice done gently. [Excerpt from my "Anecdotes" book available on amazon.com]

Thursday, April 16, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, took a while to fall asleep, got up once at 2:45, took a while to fall back asleep, finally waking at 5:45 and got up at 7:30 with Teresa.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5.290 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 5 hours and 27 minutes. Pretty good!

Today Annie James is 7 months old.

For breakfast I tried the pancakes and they came with honey not maple syrup – no surprise there.

After breakfast I walked down to the Bancolombia office we saw last night. I asked a policeman standing at the corner and he pointed me to the same location. Inside I gave the woman 107,000 pesos and my Innovation Corp information and she quickly made the deposit and gave me a receipt which I photocopied and sent to IC in Bogota.

So, this week Teresa is spending more time working on her next purse than sunbathing so I guess she just wanted some calm place where she could relax and work.

Well, I took a dip in the pool and found another ripe mango on the stairs leading out of the pool. Teresa gave it to the muchacho and he cut it up into slices and it was delicious.

Teresa wanted some new purse handles so we found a few inexpensive ones on Amazon that we could have delivered directly to Envigado.

For lunch Teresa ordered the posta (flank steak). I asked if she would finish it or wanted to share it with me. I ordered something simple (a granola bowl) so I could share her steak but they didn’t have granola. Instead, I ordered a ham & cheese sandwich which was so delicious I wasn’t interested in helping her with her steak.

I balanced my USAA checking account. Reviewing my transactions it appears they don’t charge 1% for ATM withdrawals and they refund Davivienda’s ATM fees so I might be better off paying for most (at least inexpensive) things here in cash.

After lunch Teresa returned to our room for a nap.

My feet still feel a little swollen. Every hour or so I get up and walk around a bit so blood doesn’t pool in them. I think it might have something to do with the stiff straight chair I’m sitting in.

I got tired of searching for my cursor so I went to Settings and changed it to purple.

Three guys came in and had lunch then hung around by the pool drinking wine (2 bottles).

We left the hotel about 6pm and checked out some restaurants downtown. We found Santorini and maybe we’ll have supper there tomorrow night. Teresa took me to a pizza place – really – where we got half margarita and whatever she wanted for the other half. 

We each had a Coke and the check came to about 90mil.

Teresa stopped in a couple shops and talked to the saleslady about her purses. In one she bought a purse for 110,000 pesos that I understand she’s going to decorate.

 

RELEASE ALL THE EPSTEIN FILES NOW!

 

FUNNY