Sunday, February 12, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up once at 4am, finally waking/getting up at 6:45am.

At 8am I started the process of ordering a Didi. Teresa strongly recommended I take a jacket as it was a cool overcast morning. I’m glad I did as I felt a few raindrops as I exited the garage. I arrived at Hija Mia Nomada 10 minutes early and Glenn showed up a few minutes later with Bianca.

I told Glenn about Marcos helping me with my flights to Greece and he suggested I check out Google Flights.

We left about 11am in a light drizzle. We quickly checked out Mija across the street then caught a taxi back to Envigado.

At 1:30 we had a short downpour.

Laura returned from Guatape about 2:30.

The ladies left at 8pm to have supper in Olivia’s in La Buena Mesa.

For the Superbowl I turned my MTV to Fox Sports Chicago and settled down with some salted-in-the-shell peanuts and a root beer, compliments of my brother.

I saw most of the commercials, didn’t care a whit about seeing Rihanna and the game was close as I wished with the Chiefs besting the Eagles in the last minute, 38-35.

 

 

Fun pix

Saturday, February 11, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up once at 3am, and when I returned to bed Teresa got up and said something about she wonders if Laura is back. I finally woke/got up at 7am.

I left the apt at 9:30 and walked to Parva where I had a café con leche outside while reading my New in Chess magazine. I left about 11am and ran into Jerry. I told him about our soccer match experience and we’ll meet again soon for coffee. I stopped at the Bancolombia window and had 2 Word documents printed, a calendar for August and another for September. Back at the apt I cut & pasted them together to plan for Jeannie’s wedding.

I understand Laura is going to spend the night in Guatape.

I had sent my daughter a check toward her wedding but she didn’t receive it. I just checked my USAA account and I sent it to her old address. ☹ I called USAA and they stopped payment on the check and didn’t even charge me the Stop Payment fee. Thank you, USAA!

I took my initial stab at searching for roundtrip flights on August 30 and September 15. The roundtrip charge per person varied from 3,944,815 COP for Avianca to 6,237,305 COP for American Airlines.

I opened a root beer and the Jumbo bag of peanuts my brother brought me and settled down to watch season 3, episode 2 of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. (Tom Clancy’s been dead 10 years now but he’s still producing movies and co-authoring books.)  😊

 

Fun pix

Friday, February 10, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up at 1am and 5:45am, finally waking/getting up just before 8am.

The ladies were just heading out the door so I’m on my own for breakfast.

I left at 8:45 and had breakfast at Los Portenos. I left in time to meet Marcos and Marshall outside Maca. By 10am they still hadn’t opened so we went across the street to Buneulos for coffee. Marcos informed me the flight to Europe (EU) will be the most expensive part of the trip so he recommended we fly to Madrid, Spain, stay there a few days to rest and explore then continue on to Athens, Greece arriving a few days before the wedding. Then repeat the process to return to Medellin. He recommended I start checking prices on Aireuropa, Iberia, Expedia, and Avianca.

When I left I walked past Maca and it still hadn’t opened. Across the street I caught a bus to Viva Envigado where I picked up a Gente newspaper, made a small ATM withdrawal, bought 2 bags of milk, a package of hamburger buns and a package of napkins and returned to the apt by taxi.

I finished season 5 of The Crown (8.7) on Netflix.

Teresa had another massage in the afternoon. I understand she has another one early tomorrow morning.

Laura texted me at 7pm asking if we wanted to go for dinner at 8:30. Not interested in going out that late, especially with my cold. (It’s still breaking up in my nose.)

She returned at 7:45 with her hair, nails, eyebrows, eyelashes, and makeup done. And she brought a dozen chicken wings to share with Teresa.

 

Fun pix

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 7:30am.

Today is my son’s birthday. Happy Birthday Jimmy! I love you and hope you have a great day.

Laura left at 8:30 and took a Didi to El Tesoro for a dentist appt with Dr. Rendon.

I left at 2:30 and took a Didi to the mall. I bought a preferred ticket to The Whale (8.0) for 15,600 pesos ($3.30). Since I had some time to kill, I recycled a couple plastic items then paid the utility bill in Exito. I made my last trip to the restroom then took my seat in the last row of the theater. I thought it was in the middle of the aisle but because the preferred seats are larger it was definitely more to one side. Obviously, my seat selection is still a work in progress. The movie was very good with only 7 characters and near the end I had the impression it was from a play and the credits confirmed that.  I managed to make it through the two hour movie without a trip to the restroom, probably because I didn’t drink anything before or during.

I returned to the apt by taxi. Something new has been added, now there are 2 “no parking” signs painted on the far side of the street.

Laura was getting a massage from Teresa’s masseur.

I received a text from my son that he received the book I sent him, Hidden Games, and he thinks it looks interesting.

The ladies left at 7:15. First they’re going to visit MT then Laura will pick up some cash at Viva Envigado and they will have dinner in Crepes & Waffles. I declined because I was hungry now and I didn’t feel like shopping.

 

Fun pix

 

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:45am.

My daughter texted me she’s planning on getting married Tuesday, September 5^th in Athens, Greece.

I had sent my daughter a check towards the wedding but she said she didn’t receive it. I just checked with USAA and it was sent on January 20^th. It costs $29 to cancel the check so I’ll see if she wants to do a little more searching on her end before I do that. I sent a check for $138.36 to my brother as a refund for the pesos he left me. He should receive it in about a week.

Teresa left just before 9am for the gym.

Well, I timed out on using the toilet so I’d better be ready on a moment’s notice to head to the closest café.

I left the apt at 9:30 and was having a latte in Eduardo Madrid when Teresa arrived an hour later. She ate some type of sweet while complaining about Aymara’s coffee. I told her I no longer drink coffee in places where they serve it in cardboard cups. She left about 11:15 and I stood around a little longer before returning to the apt. Something new has been added, there are 2 “no parking” signs painted in the street, one in front of Ara and the other in front of our apt.

Laura’s plane landed on time, Carlos picked her up and Laura was here by 4:30. She paid me the $140 she owed me for sending her medications. We had some thunderstorms come through but no rain.

At 5:30 Teresa noticed the water was back on so we can flush toilets again.

I suggested we go to Olivia’s for dinner but Laura took a nap and when she got up it was too late so she ordered food delivered from Chiclayo.

My cold is still breaking up in my nose and throat.

 

Fun pix

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

I left the apt at 9:15 and took a Didi to the mall where I recycled a few plastic bottles. In Bancolombia there appeared to be few people waiting to see a cashier as a service rep helped me acquire my turn number by scanning a QR code. (It appears their procedure has changed once again. Maybe they’re taking baby steps toward this being a self-service procedure.) I only had a 5-minute wait and deposited 3 million pesos into Alejandro’s account.

At Teresa’s request I went up to Todo en Arte but they didn’t have the paints she wanted.

In Exito I bought a large box of MPs and 2 bags of milk before returning to the apt by taxi.

I watched True Spirit (6.9) then Apollo 11 (8.1) on Netflix.

Nobraskja texted me that Colombia wants me to pay a $68 import tax on a $142 item I ordered for Teresa. ☹

At 8:45 someone rang our bell and gave us a flyer that says we won’t have running water tomorrow from 9am to 6pm. Laura ought to love that.

 

Fun pix

Monday, February 6, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up twice during the night, finally waking/getting up at 7:30.

The cold seems to be breaking up in my throat.

Teresa left just before 9am for a gym class then she’s going to get her hair done.

I left at 9:30 and took a Didi to the mall. Juan, my driver, didn’t seem to have brown eyes so I asked him if he had blue eyes and he replied, “green”. I replied, “like me”. I recently read that green eyes are the rarest color of eyes, like 16% of the world.

First I tried the ATM across from Exito but received the message, “transaccion con problemas. Intente luego”. I went upstairs and had no problem with the ATM in the banking area.

I looked up and noticed this sign:

There’s going to be a Pergamino café on the 3^rd floor in a not heavily trafficked area. Hopefully, people will be able to find it and bring more traffic to its neighbors like Todo n Arte. More traffic = more sales = more profits. I hope they have strong wifi as café Urbania is often filled.

I returned to the apt by taxi to veg out. I really don’t feel like hanging around with this cold.

When Teresa returned I informed her that I have the 3 million pesos in cash for Esmeralda and Teresa reminded me I’m supposed to deposit into Alejandro’s savings account.

I watched season 4 of The Sinner, starring Bill Pullman.

Teresa had a medical massage in the afternoon.

 

Fun pix