Friday, May 6, 2022

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, woke/got up at 6am.

I didn’t get out to Parva yesterday, so I wasn’t able to buy milk on my way back. We’re waiting for 7am when Teresa will call a tienda and a muchacho will deliver us a couple bags.

Jack W. My last car was a 2010 Toyota Prius and boy do I miss driving…but not here.

I sent a text message to the Medellin Chess group asking if anyone was available for a game tomorrow. Only one person responded with a location that’s out in the open. I told them I’d rather wait and see if anyone responded with an indoor location.

I left the apt at 8:45 and walked to Parva for coffee. Some observations: 1. The neighborhood Exito is completely empty. 2. Tienda de Mascotas is open again. They either removed their grooming area or moved it to the back. 3. Calle 31 is now walled off all the way up to Avenida Poblado. Teresa called me at 10am and I ordered a Didi to take her and MT to El Tesoro mall.

After returning to the apt I used my Talk360 app to call USAA and 25 minutes later I finally got my account linked with Charles Schwab so I can move money back and forth. The rep also recommended I use Google Chrome to access my account. Of course, now I have to test it to ensure it works. The call cost $1.25.

I left at 2:15 and walked to Na Pizza. They had one of those QR codes on the table to scan. It didn’t seem to work for me so I went out to the front where I remember seeing their menu on a stand out front. It turned out to be just an image of a menu. Back inside I decided to use their internet connection. It demanded I set up an account first: first name, last name, sex, telephone number. I was getting tired of all the questions and strongly considered leaving. It then found my old account and asked me to enter my password. #$%(& I don’t remember what password I used. Finally, it offered me a guest entrance and I got their password from the waitress.

I was going to order penne pasta but ended up ordering their meatball sandwich again. (It started raining about 3pm.) This time the meatballs were so large they didn’t fit inside the bread so it was more open face than a sandwich. I used several toothpicks to hold the last meatballs in place. It was as delicious as the first time I had it. I also had a Coke and the total came to 45mil.

I snuck next door to Parva without getting wet. Almost all the seats were taken by “baskets” that I’m sure were going to be used for the upcoming Mother’s Day.

I had coffee about an hour and left when the rain abated a little.

I finished season 3 and started season 4 of Ozark. What a great series.

I did a test transfer of $500 from USAA to Charles Schwab. It worked on the USAA side and I’ll check for the dollars in CS tomorrow.

Teresa returned at 6:30; she said it took 90 minutes to return from El Tesoro. And she wonders why I don’t want to go there.

 

Funny pix of the day

Thursday, May 5, 2022

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, woke up at 6:15 and got up at 6:30. I take it as a good sign that I’m only getting up once during the night. I think it shows that my bladder is healing and allowing me to go longer without having to urinate.

Teresa is going to Mayorca with her gf Patricia and we’ll meet up there later.

I left the apt at 8:45 and took a Didi to the mall. I texted Daniel and made an appointment for an 11am haircut; in the meantime I had coffee in Todo Fresa. I made a large ATM withdrawal taking advantage of the current 4000 pesos/USD currency exchange rate.

I had the typical haircut for 70mil. As I left the shop Teresa called and asked me to meet her for lunch in Santafe mall. I stopped in Cine Colombia real quick but it hadn’t opened yet.  I took a taxi to Santafe for 10mil ($2.50) and arrived by 12:30.

Looks like they have something set up for the kiddies in the atrium:

We had a nice lunch in J&C Delicias.

We went up to Cine Colombia but it hadn’t opened yet but there wasn’t anything on the marque worth seeing anyway.

Teresa did a little shopping and found, what I can best describe as a pair of denim bib overalls, for 249mil ($62) in Pull & Bear. Fashion! ☹

We returned to the apt by taxi for 10mil.

We had an hour nap after lunch.

It was 3pm and I was planning on going to Parva for coffee when we heard a loud peal of thunder. Teresa recommended I wait a bit and The Weather Channel said there was a chance of thunderstorms. We had a short shower but nothing serious developed.

I’m rewatching, and enjoying, season 3 of Ozark so I know what’s going on when I start watching season 4.

I never did get to Parva – tomorrow.

Michael posted this article on Facebook:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4798376626941089&id=100003063960999

It was raining when I went to bed at 10pm.

 

 

Funny pix of the day

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, woke up at 6:15 and got up at 6:30.

One of my readers, Jack W., asked how much we spend a month on transportation. Yes, it is much less expensive and bothersome than owning a car. A bus ride costs 2,550 pesos or 65 cents (the metro probably something similar), a taxi minimum of 5,800 pesos or $1.50 but seldom does it cost more than 12,000 pesos or $3, and a Didi, which we’ve been using a lot lately, costs a little less. So, I would guess something like $100 a month. (That may soon go up a bit depending on how this coming Saturday goes.)

I had breakfast with Glenn at Los Porteños. I had my usual croissant with scrambled eggs and a large coffee for 19,557 ($5).

After lunch Teresa and I took an hour nap.

I finished the last season of The Sopranos. What an underwhelming ending. I found this quote from the series creator:

Online I also found a plausible explanation for the ending.

I started watching season 3 of Ozark again in preparation for watching their last season, number 4.

 

 

Funny pix of the day

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, woke up at 7 and got up at 7:15. Teresa returned as I was exiting the bathroom.

Teresa forgot to buy milk so she had a muchacho deliver a couple bags for 8,500 pesos. Besides the delivery charge I tipped him another 1,500 pesos.

Marcos texted me he’s sick again so we’ll have to meet another time. I texted Charles Turner, last minute I know, to see if he might be available this morning for coffee. I never heard back from him, but I don’t think he uses Whatsapp that much.

Teresa left at 8:45 for El Tesoro. She’s going to the gym there then her mother will meet her and they will do some shopping.

I left the apt at 10am and took a bus to Parque Envigado. As soon as I entered the copy center the owner saw me and handed me my USB drive. I returned to La Buena Mesa by bus and had a café con leche in Parva.

At 12:30 I returned to the apt, dropped off a few things, and got a 50mil bill because I didn’t want to use all my smaller bills. I walked to Clap Burger where I had a cheeseburger, fries and Coke for 25,900. Interestingly, the macro menu is in English with the details in Spanish and the order and pickup windows are in English.

I’m getting near the end of the last year of the series The Sopranos.

I exchanged numerous text messages with Laura. They are going to Cancun at the end of May and she invited us to join them. In the end we decided that would be their honeymoon and the 3 of us will go to Punta Cana in October.

A beautiful sunny day, I think we hit a high of 86-88 degrees today. Again, Teresa repeated her belief that the rainy season is over.

 

Funny pix of the day

Monday, May 2, 2022

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, woke up at 6:15 and got up at 7am. (That hooting bird hooting kept me from falling back asleep.)

Street was a little wet so we must have had a little rain sometime during the night.

I left the apt at 9am and got on an Envigado bus outside Smartfit on Avenida Poblado. I got one of the last two seats. The bus went to the end of the block and turned right – obviously Ave Poblado northbound is closed – and took a 5-minute detour until it returned to Ave Poblado near La Frontera.

I got off right outside the Davivienda bank building. Inside the garage I took the elevator up to the “first floor”, I checked in with the guard, he called Inter-Col and I took a 2^nd elevator up to the 8^th floor. Daniela handed me my new passport, good for 10 years, and a copy of my digital visa which is good for 3 years. I asked her about the difficulty for a Colombian to get a US visitor visa but with her accent and wearing a mask I didn’t understand all of her answer. She said it was okay if I had Teresa call her and talk to her.

I took a Sabaneta bus to Envigado and got out across from the bookstore. They had several James Patterson hardbacks and after checking online I chose “Mary Mary”. I gave them my Scarpetta hardback and 3mil for the new one.

I walked to the paper store where I printed some pages and bought 5 money envelopes.

In Todo Drogas I purchased my medications for the month and was soon on an Envigado bus near the park. Still on the bus I realized I forgot to get my memory drive back at the paper store. Shit, that means I have to make a special trip. I was back at the apt by 11:15.

Teresa and I had an hour nap after lunch.

I made plans to meet Marcos for coffee tomorrow morning at 10am when café Maca opens. Our meetings usually only last 45 minutes do from there I’ll probably make a quick trip to Parque Envigado to recover my USB drive.

Tomorrow Teresa is going early to eps, will return to make me breakfast, then going to the gym followed by a trip to El Tesoro.

I just noticed Todo Drogas doesn’t give me a very good exchange rate when I use my debit card but the difference only amounted to $2 so I don’t know that I should consider carrying cash instead.

I finished John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief on my Nook.

 

Funny pix of the day

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Last night I went to bed at 10pm and got up once at 4:30. Six and half hours is pretty good since it probably included some deep sleep. It took maybe an hour to fall back asleep and my alarm woke me at 7am.

I picked up a Gente newspaper in Exito yesterday and there was a mention of the work being done in La Buena Mesa. Per my photo translator app, “The total progress of the pedestrianization work in Calle La Buena Mesa is 11% and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.”

I met Glenn at Hija Mia at 8:30. I told him I finished season 5 of The Sopranos. He’s probably going to start watching it again as he believes he missed a lot the first time.

He mentioned a restaurant often recommended on Facebook called Gloria’s Waffles, only problem is it’s in Laureles. It looks like it’s a block off of Avenida Nutibara not far from the main entrance of UPB. We’re getting tired of the same breakfast restaurants over and over so we’ll probably give it a try next Sunday.

While waiting for my ride I walked across the street and took this photo of Philly Steaks’ new storefront:

I was back at the apt by 10am. Teresa informed me she’s going to a special mass in La Ceja with her friend Patricia. She asked me to check Didi and I couldn’t find a driver but with inDriver I found it would be 72mil but Patricia thinks she can get a driver for less.

I guess I’m on my own for lunch today. Normally, I would go out for a quick burger but not today, the last day of Burger Maester.

I left the apt at 1pm and took a Didi to Pizza Americana in Envigado. (My first time at that location). The store was garage sized with 3 small bench-like tables and with the oven it felt a little stuffy and warm. I ordered an individual pizza with smoked ham and tomatoes and I guess it included the 500ml Pepsi because they only charged me 18mil ($5). The salesgirl didn’t seem impressed when I told her their oven was built in the town I was born in in the US. The pizza was smaller than I remember from 7 years ago but then I usually gave away one of my 4 slices so this size was perfect for me. It was delicious and I was back in my apt by 2:30.

A beautiful sunny day, I think we hit a high of about 86 degrees today; it’s been a long time coming.

Teresa returned at 8pm. She said it took an hour and 45 minutes to get there (La Ceja) and 3 hours to return, both ways by bus.

My chess rating is 1583, striking distance from my goal of 1600.

 

Funny pix of the day

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, finally waking at 6 and getting up at 6:30.

I put on my new size 36 convertible pants for the first time. The previous pair I could stretch them over my faja and it was sufficiently tight to hold them up. The new pair must be 1-2 millimeters larger so they are a little loose. I just checked and the new pair is a different brand.

Teresa and I left the apt at 9am and took a Didi to the mall. She went to the gym. I recycled a couple plastic bottles, paid the 1^st of the month bills, and took a photo of the Ikea ongoing construction. 

This is the first mention I've seen of Ikea in the mall:

If you look to the right the white tarps cover the side of the new metro walkway. If you look just to its left you can see the end of the old walkway in the background.

This is the new side entrance:

The new store is going to be so wide it needed the space of the pedestrian walkway from the metro so they moved it a few feet west and also made a new entrance on the side of the mall.

I was having coffee in Santa Leña when Teresa called me. Something about her mother and Crepes & Waffles. She called me back a few minutes later and told me they are in Todo Fresa. I told her I’m going to buy the liquid Fab she asked for and return to the apt. I was back by 11:30.

 

I watched the 3^rd and last day of the NFL draft on NFL Game Pass. The Bears remaining draft picks:

·     148^th pick (5^th round).

·     150^th pick (5^th round).

·     186^th pick (6^th round).

 

I don’t know what happened to the Bears 5^th round picks. It seems they may have traded down but so far I can’t find any details.

About 1:30 I remembered that Teresa was going to take her mother to El Tesoro so I ordered chicken wings & fries from Rocket Wings.

My son helped me figure it out. The Bears kept trading back turning 3 picks into 8.

With the 186^th pick (6^th round) the Chicago Bears selected Zachary Thomas, T, San Diego St.

And at 3:15 a short downpour started.

With the 203^rd pick (6^th round) the Chicago Bears selected RB Trestan Ebner, Baylor.

With the 207^th pick (6^th round) the Chicago Bears selected C Doug Kramer, Illinois.

With the 226^th pick (7^th round) the Chicago Bears selected T Ja’Tyre Carter, Southern University.

With the 254^th pick (7^th round) the Chicago Bears selected S Elijah Hicks, California.

With the 255^th pick (7^th round) the Chicago Bears selected P Trenton Gill, NC State.

We had a short shower about 5:30.

Teresa suggested we go for pizza. I ordered a Didi car and had the driver take me to MT’s apt where we picked up Teresa and MT. The driver charged us 15mil to drop us off at Antica Pizza. Teresa thought that was too much until I reminded her it was actually two trips, first me to Metro Sur then Metro Sur to Antica Pizza.

When we left at 8pm there was a line to get into the nearby Office Burger. There was even a long line of cars to get into and out of McDonald’s. Did I mention this week is the Burger Maester contest for who has the best burger in Medellin? I guess each time you buy a burger you are voting. Alejandro told me the other day it took him 2 hours to get into Pegasus by Los Molinos. I remember that place, something about “flying pigs” and it’s by Calle 30 and Avenida 80.

 

Funny pix of the day