Monday, May 24, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:15, fell asleep quickly, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:45.

Teresa left at 7:45 for the gym and I left at 8:15 for my walk. I met Marcos outside his apt and we walked to Parque Envigado. On the way back he stopped at a pharmacy to ask about SPF cream so I bought a 20-pack of Zapiclona for 12mil. (I can’t believe I miscalculated how much I have left. Maybe Teresa has been borrowing a few.) We stopped at Parva for coffee for a few minutes to discuss a few things.

I ran into Teresa in the garage on the way back. She told me I have an appointment for tomorrow afternoon at 4:45 for my test. (She said it’s a 4-hour test and I think this is to ensure I don’t have bone cancer.) I texted Jose that I won’t be available to play chess tomorrow.

After Teresa returned I received a phone call. I thought it would be Claro because seldom does anyone call me. I gave the phone to Teresa and she told me the clinic had an opening at 3pm today but that would be too much rushing so we’re going to go with our original 4:45 appointment tomorrow.

After lunch I spent a couple hours having coffee in Parva while going over some chess notes.

Another day we only got a high of about 82 degrees. Lately this truly has been the City of Eternal Spring and I love it.

I won a quick 17-move game against Troyclough increasing my rating to 1520.

Teresa told me I have a urologist appointment this Thursday but she doesn’t remember what time. 😊

I beat Teresa in parcheesi today 3 games to 0.

Teresa wanted to order from Chiclayo again so I texted Laura to place the order. It arrived 42 minutes after the order was placed. The first indication I had that it was raining was when a couple of girls came into the porteria with an umbrella. (It stopped an hour or so before we went to bed.) Steve texted me that as of tomorrow pico y cedula is over and the curfew has been extended to start at midnight.

 

The US has 33,123,794 ð 33,137,938 ð 33,163,628 coronavirus cases with 589,300+ ð 589,500+ ð 589,900+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 3,210,787 ð 3,232,456 ð 3,249,433 cases with 84,228 ð 84,724 ð 85,207 deaths. Medellin has 291,699 ð 292,941 ð 294,125 cases, an increase of 1,184 from May 23^rd to 24^th. Envigado has a total of 24,072 cases, an increase of 24 from May 23^rd to 24^th.

 

Joke of the day

Life is sexually transmitted.

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 4:30, couldn’t fall back asleep so I just got up.

One of my readers asked, “Are you aware that if you have magic jack on your cell phone that you can use WhatsApp's app on the same cell phone and call anyone else that has WhatsApp anywhere in the world. They must have WhatsApp on their phone though. So that while magic jack only gets calls to three locations; US, Canada and I believe Mexico - WhatsApp opens the phone up to the whole world as long as you have a wifi connection.”

I’ve been using WhatsApp to occasionally call people but I wasn’t aware it had anything to do with MagicJack.

I went back to bed at 6am just as Teresa was getting up. I asked her to wake me at 7am and when she did I hit the shower, shaved, dressed and left at 8am.

I met Glenn with Bianca across from Jumbo and we quickly hailed a car. Just before they got in the back the driver said something which, in hindsight, was probably “have the dog sit on the floor”. Bianca jumped on the seat as usual and left a dirty/wet spot and the driver got angry. Words were exchanged and in the end Glenn gave him 10mil to clean the dirty spot and go away. I told him in the future he shouldn’t pick up people with dogs.

We caught the next taxi to Ganso & Castor in Ciudad de Rio. Steve was already there and we all had coffee before having breakfast. Since I had googled “Which Medellin Colombia urologist performs robot assisted prostatectomy?” and it brought up my urologist’s name I wanted to be sure it wasn’t some trick with google knowing some facts about me so I had Steve and Glenn do the same and they got the same answer. I had the Greek yogurt with fruit & granola. Glenn leave Tuesday for the US for his own scheduled surgery to repair a bladder problem he has.

Steve left then Glenn and I caught a taxi back to Envigado. They got out at the bus stop before Jumbo and I continued on to Viva Envigado. I recycled a plastic bottle then had a café con leche in Santa Leña. The gates to Cine Colombia were up so I asked someone when they will open and was told June 1^st. I returned to the apt via taxi.

I lost a couple points due to a 56-move draw with BrianEricMurphy then I lost a 26-move game vs Michael. My rating has now fallen to 1512.

Teresa called me at 5:30. She’s stuck in Caldas because of protesters blocking the highway. She returned at 6:30 and informed me she forgot to pick up eggs at the finca and she forgot to tell me to buy them when I was at the mall.

 

The US has 33,105,303 ð 33,123,794 ð 33,137,938 coronavirus cases with 588,800+ ð 589,300+ ð 589,500+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 3,192,050 ð 3,210,787 ð 3,232,456 cases with 83,719 ð 84,228 ð 84,724 deaths. Medellin has 290,460 ð 291,699 ð 292,941 cases, an increase of 1,241 from May 22^nd to 23^rd. Envigado has a total of 24,048 cases, an increase of 79 from May 22^nd to 23^rd.

 

Joke of the day

An Irish priest is driving down to New York and gets stopped for speeding in Connecticut.

The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath and then spots an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car.

He says, 'Sir, have you been drinking?'

'Just water,' says the priest.

The trooper says, 'Then why do I smell wine?'

The priest looks at the bottle and says, 'Good Lord! He's done it again!'

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 3am, fell back asleep quickly, woke up at 5am (it was drizzling), couldn’t fall back asleep (too much on my mind) so I got up at 5:30.

Teresa left at 9am for her gym class.

I left at 9:30 and walked to Parque Envigado where I exchanged paperbacks (this time I found one that’s a New York Times Bestseller), printed some chess notes and bought a new mouse for the laptop. On the way back I stopped for coffee at Parva.

At 1pm I met Teresa at La Bahia where we had the menu of the day. Teresa then went to visit her mom and I went to the mall where I had coffee in Santa Leña. I made an ATM withdrawal and for the first time received mostly 100s instead of 50s. I returned to the apt via taxi.

I started watching a new Netflix TV series called Sexify (6.6)

About 6:30 I left the apt and took a taxi to MTs apt where I picked up MT and Teresa and from there we went to Antica Pizza. The place was empty when we arrived but there was a long line by the time we left at 7:30.

Just before going to bed at 10:30 I noticed there was a downpour.

 

The US has 33,076,464 ð 33,105,303 ð 33,123,794 coronavirus cases with 588,100+ ð 588,800+ ð 589,300+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 3,177,212 ð 3,192,050 ð 3,210,787 cases with 83,233 ð 83,719 ð 84,228 deaths. Medellin has 289,378 ð 290,460 ð 291,699 cases, an increase of 1,238 from May 21^st to 22^nd. Envigado has a total of 23,969 cases, an increase of 82 from May 21^st to 22^nd.

 

Joke of the day

He says, “What have you been doing with all the grocery money I gave you”?

She says, “Turn sideways and look in the mirror.”

Friday, May 21, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 3am, fell back asleep quickly, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

We left the apt at 8am for my 9am urology appointment. We were finally taken in at 9:30 and were out by 10am.

My urologist speaks good English but the receptionist/assistant and Teresa, not at all.

What I know (or with my limited Spanish, what I think I know) and remember:

I have adenocarcinoma (aka glandular cancer) of the prostate which has been caught early. It was first indicated by my PSA test results increasing from 3.48 early 2020 to 6.57 late 2020 to 8.72 early 2021 and was confirmed by the biopsy late last month.  It’s a tumor believed to be localized to the inside of my prostate. Treatment is radiotherapy or surgery to remove the prostate. I asked if radiotherapy could be tried first and if that doesn’t work we would go to surgery but he didn’t recommend it because surgery would be more difficult due to the scarring from the radiotherapy. The cost would be about 13million or 14million pesos ($3600-$3900 depending on the currency exchange rate at the time) and would be done by laparoscopy and they would also repair my umbilical hernia at the same time. This would all be done through a private surgeon and hospital. (If I went the public insurance route it would probably cost something like $5 but the wait would be weeks to months.) Even though the doctor said there is no hurry I would rather get this over with ASAP. Teresa will be making an appointment for another minor test/procedure which I understand (Teresa had one before her mastectomy) is to confirm I don’t have bone cancer. Surgery side effects include a small chance of urinary incontinence and a larger chance of erectile dysfunction but the doctor said at my age and with my otherwise good health I should live to a ripe old age.

To be continued…

We went to Santa Leña where Teresa had eggs, a croissant and café con leche and I had the same without the eggs.

She did some shopping before we returned to the apt by taxi.

Teresa went to take a nap but someone started playing and singing in the street. I heard Teresa say “I hope it starts raining so they will stop” and darned if it didn’t start raining. It stopped 5 minutes later after they had left. 😊

For a late lunch we ordered picanugys from Frisby. The one thing they didn’t get right is neither of our chicken nuggets were bathed in the requested sauce.

Teresa beat me in parcheesi today 4 games to 0.

I believe that little rain shower we had ended our streak of two days without rain.

 

The US has 33,053,583 ð 33,076,464 ð 33,105,303 coronavirus cases with 587,400+ ð 588,100+ ð 588,800+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 3,161,126 ð 3,177,212 ð 3,192,050 cases with 82,743 ð 83,233 ð 83,719 deaths. Medellin has 288,554 ð 289,378 ð 290,460 cases, an increase of 1,070 from May 20^th to 21^st. Envigado has a total of 23,887 cases, an increase of 51 from May 20^th to 21^st.

 

Joke of the day

He says, “Shall we try swapping positions tonight”?

She says, “That's a good idea... you stand by the ironing board while I lie on the sofa and snooze.”

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 4:15 (heard the rooster crowing as I fell back asleep), finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

Well, Teresa is still here so its obvious she didn’t drag her body out of bed THIS morning.

Michael resigned our game increasing my rating to 1529. He thought he blundered and I had a mate in 2 but he could defend it. I checked the computer and it said I had a mate in 12. Anyway, his last move was a weak one that would have given me a win anyway.

I left the apt at 9:15 and arrived at Torre Medica by 9:40, 20 minutes early for my appointment. I was allowed in at 11am where an assistant used a fancy machine to take photos of my eyes from various angles.

A few minutes later I saw the doctor and I had the usual eye exam. She then put drops in my eyes to dilate my pupils and I was back in the waiting area for another 20 minutes. The doctor examined my eyes then declared she couldn’t see anything clinically wrong to explain the blurriness in my right eye and she set me up for an appointment for next Wednesday at 9am in the San Diego ophthalmology clinic. The office visit cost me 230mil.

With my dilated pupils I just wanted to get out of the brightness of the day and back to the apt. Luckily, it is easy to catch a taxi outside and I was back at the apt by 12:15.

Teresa informed me I have an appointment with my urologist at 9:15 tomorrow and he should have my test results.

I took a nap for an hour, then had lunch with my sunglasses on. By 3pm they were starting to feel better and by 5pm they were back to normal.

A gringo still in the US was asking about banking on Expat Exchange so I suggested he PM me his telephone number and I would call him. He did and I did at 700 617 6530. His name is Dennis, he lives in Florida, he’s 50 years old and plans to move to Medellin as soon as he sells his house. I told him about my accounts with USAA and Citibank, about my using MagicJack with my headphones and my shipping service Envios Market.

 

The US has 33,024,648 ð 33,053,583 ð 33,076,464 coronavirus cases with 586,800+ ð 587,400+ ð 588,100+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 3,144,547 ð 3,161,126 ð 3,177,212 cases with 82,291 ð 82,743 ð 83,233 deaths. Medellin has 287,699 ð 288,554 ð 289,378 cases, an increase of 824 from May 19^th to 20^th. Envigado has a total of 23,836 cases, an increase of 50 from May 19^th to 20^th.

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

 Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 1am from Teresa’s snoring, fell back asleep quickly, finally waking/getting up at 6:15.

Marcos hadn’t answered my text from last night as to whether we were walking this morning by the time I left the apt at 8am. At 8:15 his portero informed me he isn’t joining me today. I walked to Parque Envigado where I recycled some of Teresa’s leftover drugs at a pharmacy, paid my 3,500 debt at the copy center and returned to the apt.

Teresa called me at noon to inform me she’s having lunch with a friend at El Pastelito. I was invited but I told her I’d have lunch in the mall.

I left at 12:30 and walked to the mall where I paid the utility bill of 300,000 pesos. I had vegetable beef with rice at Sr. Wok then a café con leche in Santa Lena café. I returned to the apt by taxi and Teresa returned 10 minutes later. She told me a Venezuelan trainer offered to work with her as her personal trainer for an hour 3 times a week for 300mil a month. Only problem is her workout time is 6-7am. Later she told me her training sessions will be on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and they start tomorrow.

Teresa talked to the lab and asked them to email me my test results. I received them not 5 minutes later but they turned out to be the same as my results from 2+ weeks ago. What a comedy of errors. Teresa talked to someone at the lab office and they went through each of the 6 pages comparing their copy to my email copy and the printed copy I had. (The fact that the date on all copies was April 29^th should have been a clue that nothing had been updated.) I understand we’re going there tomorrow after my eye exam to get a physical copy. (If they have a correct copy then I don‘t know why they couldn’t email it to me.) Later Teresa talked to them again and I understand they will email the results to my urologist on Friday.

Today was a day without rain but still we only reached a high of about 82 degrees.

I gave up on another paperback, Nature’s End by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka. It was published in 1986 but takes place in the future – 2015. The early pages are a flashback to 2021 where the main character flies with his son from NY to Denver and the pollution is so bad everyone is wearing masks with oxygen tanks. People are dying on the streets because either they don’t have one or their tank runs out of oxygen.

 

The US has 32,996,738 ð 33,024,648 ð 33,053,583 coronavirus cases with 585,900+ ð 586,800+ ð 587,400+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 3,131,410 ð 3,144,547 ð 3,161,126 cases with 81,809 ð 82,291 ð 82,743 deaths. Medellin has 286,838 ð 287,699 ð 288,554 cases, an increase of 855 from May 18^th to 19^th. Envigado has a total of 23,785 cases, an increase of 66 from May 18^th to 19^th.

 

Joke of the day

"It's just too hot to wear clothes today," Jack says as he steps out of the shower, "Honey, what do you think the neighbors would think if I mowed the lawn like this?"

"Probably that I married you for your money," she replied.

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 3:45 and heard a rooster crowing in the distance, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

Troyclough resigned our game increasing my rating to 1528.

I left the apt at 8am and walked to the mall. Jose arrived at 8:30 and we each had the complete breakfast at Habia Una Vez.

At 9am we went up to the food court. The first game was agreed to as a draw and later when I checked the computer agreed.

For lunch I ordered an individual pizza from Papa John’s and I gave Jose a slice.

He beat me pretty soundly in the 2^nd game. We were done by 3pm and I went down to Todo Fresa for coffee.

I left at 4pm and went to Baloto to pay the utility bill but found their system was down.

I tried 2 different Davivienda ATMs to withdraw cash but neither was working. I finally got cash from a Servibanca ATM.

For supper I finished the chicken pasta from last night.

I finished reading Sara Westover’s Educated on my Nook.

I noticed a few raindrops around 9:30 but they didn’t amount to anything.

 

The US has 32,967,351 ð 32,996,738 ð 33,024,648 coronavirus cases with 585,500+ ð 585,900+ ð 586,800+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 3,118,426 ð 3,131,410 ð 3,144,547 cases with 81,300+ ð 81,809 ð 82,291 deaths. Medellin has 286,057 ð 286,838 ð 287,699 cases, an increase of 860 from May 17^th to 18^th. Envigado has a total of 23,719 cases, an increase of 39 from May 17^th to 18^th.

 

Joke of the day

A couple is lying in bed.

He says, "I am going to make you the happiest woman in the world."

She says, "I'll miss you..."