Monday, April 17, 2023

 Last night I went to bed at 10pm, woke up at 2:15 with Teresa breathing heavily, made a trip to the bathroom, took an allergy pill, moved my sheet and pillow to the guest bedroom and fell back asleep quickly, finally waking/getting up at 7:30.

Teresa left for the gym just before 9am and I left a few minutes after. Since today is the beginning of a new 2-week period in my notebook, I raised the weight a little for each of my exercises. I was back in the apt by 10am. Besides the extra strain on the muscles it does help my cardio some. I then spent about 30 minutes cooling down before I jumped in the shower.

After Teresa’s gym class she’s going to get her nails down and then she will call me and we’ll meet somewhere nearby for lunch.

At 1:30 I was getting a little antsy when Teresa returned and suggested we have lunch at Otra Parte. She had the menu of the day which included chicken and a mora (blackberry) juice. I had a bowl of onion soup (which was so so) and their chicken wraps for a total of 77,574 mil ($18).

Teresa returned to the apt and I went to Parva where I had a café con leche and a pastel de arequipe and I got a pastel de guayaba to go for Teresa. I went back and forth between doing some chess puzzles and reading news & sports on my cellphone.

I left at 5pm and bought 2 bags of milk on my way back to the apt.

In my latest game against Troyclough I think I may be able to trap his queen. We’ll see.

Teresa had a massage from 6:15 to 7:15.

I watched more episodes of Boardwalk Empire.

 

tRump’s Arrest

Sunday, April 16, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:45pm, woke up at 4:15, made a trip to the bathroom, took an allergy pill, returned to bed, couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up at 5am, worked a bit on my computer, and went back to bed at 5:45. I finally fell asleep and was awakened by my alarm at 7:30.

Troyclough resigned our game increasing my rating to 1614 and lowering his to 1502. 😊 I think my tactical studies are paying off.

At 8:40am, I ordered a Didi, a minute later it was cancelled, and the next driver couldn’t turn left off of southbound Ave Las Vegas because of Ciclovia but I still arrived at Pergamino only a few minutes after 9. Glenn and Bianca were already there waiting for me. We started with a large latte for me and large cappuccino and bottle of water for Glenn. I gave him Teresa’s suggestion that he should get an endoscopy here to learn the cause of his stomach problems. He had one when he was in NY but they didn’t find anything and believes what he needs now is an MRI but doesn’t want to go through the Sura health system. Teresa sent me a voice mail message asking me to pick up lettuce on my way back to the apt. I texted Jose asking if he’s available for chess on Tuesday and so far, so good, he replied. I had a small latte and an almond croissant intending to have the granolada later but it never happened.

On our taxi ride back to Envigado our driver inquired if we happened to have a $2 bill, which he understands is a lucky bill to have. I got out across from Mercado Madrid, bought a head of “lechuga crespa”, and returned to the apt.

At noon the transit police showed up and chased away 6 cars parked illegally in the no parking lane.

I sent a request to the cruise line asking for a quote on the least expensive outside cabin for 2 or 3 people.

We had more rain in the evening.

It’s 6:30 on a Sunday evening and outside Ara cars are parked in all 7 parking spots, 2 taxis are in the street with their emergency flashers on and 2 cars are parked illegally in front of our building.

6:45pm and the transit police are back.

The rain finally stopped just before bedtime.

 

tRump’s Arrest

Saturday, April 15, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:45pm, took a while to fall asleep, woke up at 3am, made a trip to the bathroom, took an allergy pill, and returned to bed. Teresa was breathing hard and it took a few of my movements for her to settle down, I fell back asleep, woke up at 6:30, made another trip to the bathroom, did my Kegel exercises, fell back asleep, finally waking/getting up at 8am.

A fumigation guy arrived just after 9:15 (all the towers were scheduled this week) and sprayed the outer walls. I assume this is mainly for cockroaches, luckily, we seldom see them here.

I’m trying to find reasonable flights (time and price) for a trip to Chicago in September to renew my driver’s license. Quite the challenge.

Teresa informed me she’s going with her mother to Panamericana to buy more sprinkles for her jackets. I took a pass and planned to meet Glenn at Barrio Sur for lunch.

Glenn and I ended up at Black Pepper. He ordered corn soup and I French onion soup. I also ordered a burger and a limonada de coco and he a Cesar salad. The waiter informed me they didn’t have French onion soup so I switched to the corn soup. When I reminded him of the limonada de coco he soon returned and said they didn’t have that so I switched to a bottle of war. While we were there it started raining pretty heavily. We took our time leaving and he ordered a Didi and I walked around the corner to Los Portenos.

I haven’t heard so much English in a long time. A couple with 2 kids were sitting outside speaking both Spanish and English. A young man came in with his son at the age where they lose their baby teeth and the father spoke Spanish to his son who answered in English. Interesting.

At Teresa’s request I stopped in Tienda D1 and bought her a package of arepas before returning to the apt.

Later Teresa called and invited me to join her and her mother for epinadas at La Estacion. I wasn’t hungry so I took a pass. She returned with morcilla (blood sausage) for herself and I had an apple with peanut butter.

I found a combination in my game against Troyclough and I’m up a rook and a pawn.

 

tRump’s Arrest

Friday, April 14, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:45pm, quickly fell asleep, woke up at 4am, made a trip to the bathroom, took an allergy pill, and returned to bed, finally waking/getting up at 6:45am.

Today for the first time in my 10 years here I had a run-in with a Colombian.

I left the apt just after 8am and walked to the mall. I completed my usual exercise routine in Smartfit. This time I took my shower in the next to last stall and the door catch worked and the water seemed a little less cold for some reason and lasted at least 10 seconds before having to push the button again.

I went to Exito where I picked up a Gente newspaper. Back inside the mall proper I paid for our cellphone plans in Claro. Going down the escalator I thought I saw an available table at Urbania. There was a 4-top but since I didn’t need that much space, I took the last small rectangular table that was available. On one side of the table there is a bench you sit on and on the other is a single chair. Only problem was there was stuff sitting on the chair. I saw 2 guys sitting at the next table and on the other side were 6 ladies with tables pushed together and they were working together on laptops. My mistake is I moved the stuff from the chair to the floor so I could put my stuff (gym bag, tech bag, and fanny pack) on the chair. I sat down and a couple minutes later the guy sitting at the next table closest to the stuff started giving me a hard time. Over time I understood he brought a chair from another table and put it there so he could put his stuff on it. I don’t know how I was supposed to know that. My mistake was I didn’t ask everyone if the stuff was there’s. He repeatedly used the word, “respect”, and as he was finally leaving he even started complaining to the ladies at the next table. I’d finally had enough and gave him the middle finger. Just a misunderstanding but he wouldn’t let it go. He soon left with his buddy and I stayed about an hour. Laura texted me about joining us on our vacation in Madrid and Athens. I sent her our “hotel” reservations and the approximate cost. If she wants to join us she can just pay for the room upgrades.

In Exito I ran into Jerry in the soda aisle. He was with a lady friend visiting from Denver. We chatted a bit about touristy things and promised to meet over coffee soon. I picked up an 8-pack of Coke and returned to the apt by taxi.

Around noon Teresa texted that she was with a gf and asked me to meet her for lunch at Otra Parte at 1:30.

I arrived a couple minutes early and at 1:40 I called Teresa and it sounded like she answered but it sounded strange. She arrived 5 minutes later and informed me her cellphone battery was dead. I had their dish called Mama Pastora (pasta and chicken breast with teriyaki sauce) and a mango juice and Teresa had Ajiaco soup and a bottle of water. I tasted the broth of her soup for the first time and it was pretty good. The check came to about 64mil ($14) including tip and I paid in cash. Teresa had a jean jacket with her and she returned to the apt to start working on it. I walked to Los Porteños where I had a small latte while solving chess puzzles for an hour. Workers brought 8 large bags of coffee that were taken upstairs.

Teresa texted me about seeing a movie tonight. The only title I can figure out is “I Love My Dad” which starts at 5:10pm and 8:10pm.

I picked up 2 bags of milk on the way back to the apt.

Teresa started decorating one of the denim jackets.

I checked where we’re staying in Madrid and Greece and gave Laura the approximate difference, that she would have to pay, if we had to upgrade to a larger place.

I finished season 1 of Boardwalk Empire (8.6) on MTV.

 

tRump’s Arrest

 

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:45pm and quickly fell asleep but was awakened by Teresa’s snoring at 3:15. I made a trip to the bathroom, took an allergy pill, and returned to bed. Teresa soon started snoring again, not loud, but loud enough. I would change positions in bed and she would be silent for a minute then start up again. I repeated that several times then the last time just before I was going to move to the other bedroom, she was quiet long enough for me to fall back asleep, finally waking/getting up just before 7am.

I arrived at Parva with my laptop by 9am. I ensured each of the “hotels” I’ve chosen include free WiFi. I ordered a cruise brochure to be sent to my gmail account.

Marcos arrived by 9:30.

He leaves April 24^th and will return May 30^th. He said he will let me know about Hostal Inter Plaza Mayor in Madrid and if all is well I’ll book it right away. I asked him about how to convert from the Americas 110V to Europe’s 220V and he said all you just need a simple plug adaptor. He has 2 and will loan them to me when he returns.

I’m thinking I’ll reserve the least expensive cabin for the cruise and use the savings for shore excursions. I see I can get travel insurance for the cruise for about $7 per person.

Marcos suggested Teresa and I meet with him and his girlfriend for dinner Saturday night so I suggested the Peruvian restaurant Rocoto.

Teresa texted me and asked me to pick up a kilo of potatoes in Ara on my way back to the apt. I left about 11:30 and stopped in Ara. I know a kilo is 2.2 pounds but it took me a bit to figure out that one of the sides of the scale is in kilos and the other is in pounds and ounces.

Opening today in Cine Colombia are:

Blanco Fácil aka Easy White

El Tifón aka The Typhoon

Mañana Antes Despues aka Tomorrow Before After

Maravilloso Desastre aka Wonderful Disaster

Te Quiero Papá aka I Love You Dad

Una Familia Monstruosa aka A Monstrous Family

I’m going to have to check the original titles in Cine Colombia tomorrow.

Teresa had a massage from 5:15 to 6:15.

For supper Teresa wanted to go to Antica Pizza but I wanted her to be sure the restaurant was open. She found out Gloria wasn’t working tonight so we had it delivered. The check was 38,500 and I didn’t want to get rid of all my small bills so I gave him 50mil and told him to keep the change.

I never heard back from Marcos and Teresa seem indifferent when I suggested it to her so I don’t know if the Saturday night get-together is going to happen.

 

tRump’s Arrest

 

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, made a trip to the bathroom at 4:45, took an allergy pill, soon fell back asleep, finally waking/getting up at 7:15.

This morning, on my laptop, when I tried to go to the internet I received the message, “Hmmm…your internet access is blocked. Firewall or antivirus software may have blocked the connection.”

Windows says I’m connected to the internet and I have no problem accessing websites from my cellphone. I hope someone didn’t mess me up when I was at Viva Envigado yesterday.

I went to the gym and completed my routine in less than an hour.

When I returned to the apt, I restarted my router, restarted my computer, Windows did some updates and now I’m back to normal. Whew!

Teresa wanted to make lentil soup for lunch but she didn’t have any lentils. She asked me to change clothes and go next door to Ara and buy a package. Uh, no. I had her call the muchacho to deliver it and she also ordered a ripe plantain and a few cloves of garlic. It was 14,500 pesos and I gave the boy 17mil.

My order for a Kensington cable lock was cancelled by Amazon due to unavailability. I had to go to the Kensington website to order one.

Teresa came back and told me when she showed her jacket to her friend in the gym, 4 others placed orders to have one decorated by her.

In the afternoon I returned to Los Porteños and worked on My Woodpecker Method chess puzzles for an hour.

Teresa got another massage while I was gone.

I watched a couple more episodes of Boardwalk Empire on MTV.

For supper I just had a gala apple with peanut butter.

 

tRump’s Arrest

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, made a trip to the bathroom at 1:30, took an allergy pill, soon fell back asleep, woke up at 4:45, made another trip to the restroom, did my Kegel exercises, the birds were singing so it took a little while to fall back asleep, finally waking/getting up at just before the alarm went off at 7am.

Troyclough resigned our game and my rating is now 1609 and his is 1509.

With my laptop, I left the apt at 8am and met Teresa at Los Porteños for breakfast. I then ordered a Didi to take us to Viva Envigado. Teresa had a rumba class and I had some vacation confirmations printed then had coffee in Urbania. I found a nice apt in Athina Apartments and made a reservation for September 6-8. It’s located near the Pireaus port so we’ll be close to our cruise location.  Later, Teresa met me then did a little shopping. She called me about 1pm and asked me to meet her for lunch at Wilson’s restaurant. I paid for my latte, made a trip to the restroom, made an ATM withdrawal then walked to Bocados Restaurant and Bar. We both had chicken breast which included lentil soup and we shared a bottle of water.

This is what Ikea looks like now, outside completed on the east side but lots of work to be done on the south side.

I returned to the mall to print my Athina Apartments reservation, bought 2 bags of milk and another box of man pads and returned to Bocados. I ordered a Didi to take us back to our apt.

I left about 2pm and had a small latte in Los Porteños while doing puzzles in my Woodpecker Method chess book.

Chris Cojeleas came by and we chatted a bit. He told me 2 weeks and 2 days ago he came down with some bug and is now just starting to feel better. I told him that’s exactly when I returned to the gym for the first time in 3 years. He goes to the Smartfit in Viva Envigado because it’s across the street from his apartment.

I returned to the apt by 4:30.

Teresa wanted to go for pizza but at 6:30 it started raining. I checked both my weather apps and they both said the rain would stop by 7:15, which is exactly what happened.

On our way to Antica Pizza it started raining again. We were surprised to find the restaurant closed. The driver didn’t want to take us to La Buena Mesa and ended up dropping us off on Calle 37 sur where it would be easy for us to catch a taxi. Five minutes later we were on a taxi and had him take us to Chiclayo. We each had their pollo saltado with papas on the side and shared a bottle of water. Luckily, the rain stopped before we finished eating and we were able to walk back to the apt.

 

tRump’s Arrest