Monday, August 28, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 5am, couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up at 6am.

I received this text message from Jose’s Whatsapp account: “Hola Terry buen dia soy Maria José esta muy delicado de salud. Esta en uci.” I texted, “Our prayers are with him.” Teresa called and Jose is in the ICU with blood in his lungs. ☹ We’ll learn more later.

I left the apt at 8am and walked to the mall. I first recycled a couple Coke bottles. I had the cruise confirmation printed in Auros. I bought a 6-pack of AAA batteries in Exito.

Walking past Starbucks it occurred to me I didn’t have my water bottle with me. ☹ I hurried back to Auros and it was still sitting on their counter. I grabbed it and went back to the mall proper.

Upstairs I paid for the apt (no line) and used a consignacion ATM to pay for my health insurance and our Smartfit memberships. I made an ATM withdrawal of 2,000,000 pesos.

In Decathlon I bought another padlock as Teresa had showed me there are 2 sides to her suitcase with separate zippers.

In Smartfit I completed my workout without any problem. I met a gringo from Florida about my age named Clint. He lives on the other side of Parque Envigado and spends 6 months of the year in Colombia and the rest of the year in Costa Rica.

In H&M I found a pair of pants but when I tried them on they were slim fit so that wonn’t work. In Arturo Calle I found a pair of regular fit khaki pants that weren’t too thick so I bought those for 169,900 pesos ($42).

I went to Teresa’s preferred sasteria and requested the pants be shortened but I needed them the next morning. I paid 50mil and the lady said they would be ready in an hour. I went to Urbania and had a latte. I texted photos of my apt rental and health insurance payment receipts. I sent a reminder with details to Bryan, our driver, to pick us up tomorrow at 4:30pm.

Teresa texted she was already in La Bahia and I should have lunch on my own.

I picked up my altered pants and they returned 25mil as they said I was accidentally charged for 2 pairs. I went up to Pergamino and had their Granolada with a small latte.

About 2pm I returned to the apt by taxi.

Laura texted me she received the extension for her green card so she’s definitely going. After that I answered a number of her last-minute questions.

Teresa returned about 3:30. She texted Maria on Jose’s Whatsapp number and asked how he was doing.

Jose called me from the ICU; he said he didn’t want us to worry before our vacation. He said he had a blood clot. He sounded a little off which I guess is normal in his condition but I didn’t get other details as I didn’t want to keep him on the phone for very long.

I received an email from Air Europa and I entered the necessary information for our boarding passes which I’ll print tomorrow morning.

 

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Sunday, August 27, 2023

 Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, woke up again at 5am, couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up at 6am, worked on the computer, went back to bed at 6:45 and got up by my alarm at 7:30.

2 days remaining before our trip.

Uh-oh. I blundered my queen against Mr_Blamo. That’s going to end up costing me a bunch of points.

I turned on the hot water faucet in the kitchen and heard the on-demand heater come on but no hot water came out. Same when I took my shortened shower. ☹

Teresa wants me to meet her at Santafe mall around 12 or 12:30 so she can buy some new shorts.

I left the apt at 8:20 and walked to Sao Paolo Plaza. I ordered a latte and an almond croissant and Glenn soon arrived with Bianca. His gastroenterologist hasn’t found out what’s wrong with him so he’s looking for a new doctor. Later I had calentao with scrambled eggs and another latte.

He left about 11am and I stopped in Carulla and bought a tube of Spf cream. Teresa texted me and asked me to order a Didi for her and then told me she couldn’t find it. ☹Across the street it was a short wait for a taxi to take me to Santafe mall. Teresa told me she finally found her car.

I stopped at the Davivienda ATM and made a withdrawal. 

This is the decoration currently in the atrium:

I had a latte in Todo Fresa on the first floor while waiting to hear from Teresa. I finally found her about 12:30 outside Vin & Gretta having a salad. She was concerned she wouldn’t find something like this to eat in Europe. I told her all restaurants have salads. She told me she wanted a Crepes & Waffles and I told her we’re not wasting our time hunting for a franchise restaurant. Darned if Google didn’t find a Crepes & Waffles somewhere in Madrid. We visited a few stores and she finally found a pair of shorts she liked in Falabella. While she was getting a pedicure repair I had a lasagna mixta and a strawberry juice in Olivia’s for 54,957 pesos ($13). Later we shared a latte in Starbucks then returned to the apt by taxi.

About 4:45 we felt a tremor.

Teresa helped me choose shorts and tops for our trip and we started packing my suitcase.

 

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Saturday, August 26, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, got up twice during the night, woke up at 6:45 and got up at 7am. 😊

No hot water for my shower this morning. ☹

I won another game against Mr_Blamo increasing my rating 1 point to 1596.

I took a Didi to Daniel’s barbershop where I got my final haircut before our trip. I took another Didi to Todo Drogas where I bought my monthly medications, plus loperamide for our trip for a total of 358,500 pesos ($88).

This is what Chuck’s Mart looks like across the street

Next month I’ll ask at Todo Drogas if it’s open and if it is I’ll check it out.

I stopped in Exito and bought a small carton of 18 eggs.

I walked to Parva where I had a café con leche while checking my cellphone. I think I’m going to lose this game to Troyclough. Just before 11am I was about to leave to watch the Bears pregame show when the muchacho gifted me a small piece of pan de queso. I ordered another café con leche to go with it and left about 20 minutes later.

I’ve got the game on Chicago Fox 32 on MTV and for backup, DAZN on my laptop so I’m all set. It’s obvious the Fox 32 broadcast is on a 30-second delay. I finished most of my 1/3 bag of peanuts while watching the Bears lose to the Bills 24-21. As soon as the game ended I ordered 6 BBQ chicken wings from Go Wings.

On DAZN’s NFL Game Pass they had stats, Play by Play plus game highlights.

I ordered 6 chicken wings bathed in BBQ sauce from Go Wings.

My order arrived about 45 minutes later but there were 2 mistakes: 1) not only were the wings not bathed in BBQ sauce but they didn’t even include packages of BBQ sauce (not a problem because I have BBQ sauce) 2) They included an order of fries I didn’t order (no problem, only thing is I’ll be fatter because of it).

I received a message on chess.com from a Coach_84 with a 2450 rating offering lessons on zoom. He’s from Norway (Magnus is that you?) near the Arctic circle and the first lesson with his plan would be 75 euro ($86). I told him I would contact him again after our trip to Europe.

Teresa returned at 7:15 with a box of empanadas. She often refuses to eat what she considers fattening food like hamburgers and pizza but she’ll eat fried empanadas and chicharron. Go figure!

Initially all I saw was is a 5-minute recap on NFL Game Pass but then I found “switch to full event” which is the complete game.

I turned the incendiary switch on the on-demand hot water heater on and off a few times and finally got it to work. Now I just have to remember to check it again tomorrow just before my shower.

 

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Friday, August 25, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up twice during the night, woke up at 6:45 and got up at 7am. 😊

4 days and counting!

Today I received an email from Aegean Airlines offering to upgrade each of our flights for €170. That would be €170 x 2 (people) x 2 (flights) for a total of €680 or $735. Nah, ain’t going to happen.

I received an email from Booking.com that our stay at Helen will be charged €80 by midnight tomorrow, Greece time. That gave me time to switch debit cards from USAA to Capital One.

I left the apt at 8:45 and walked to the mall. No Gente newspapers. I completed my usual workout in Smartfit. After, I went just outside to Recifes where I had a traditional manicure and pedicure for 66mil ($16). That took about 40 minutes.

Downstairs I was having a latte in Urbania when Teresa arrived 45 minutes later. She had a tinto while I made a trip to the restroom.

We left about 11:30 and took a taxi to our portero where I dropped off my gym bag and she a dress she had altered. We continued on to Complex Los Balsos where she found a pair of shoes at a large discount for 90mil in a store called Tarch. In Valentina’s Bakery we shared a bowl of beet soup and a delicious chicken sandwich. With her latte and my limonada de coco and 10% tip the total came to 77,137 ($19). This was the first time I paid for something with my Capital One debit card and all I had to do was tap it to the card reader and it printed my receipt. No pin code needed.

At 2pm we took a Didi back to the apt. I tipped the driver 1,500 pesos (using the app) because he had air conditioning on.

The charge for Helen came through and the €80 came out to $86.75.

Teresa had a massage from 3:30 to 4:30.

I finished season 5 of Justified (8.6).

Tomorrow morning and early afternoon Teresa will be busy getting her eyebrows and eyelashes done. I’ll be getting my haircut, picking up my medications and the Bears game is at noon.

 

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Thursday, August 24, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, woke up at 5:30 and got up at 5:45. 😊

5 days and counting!

To answer Wanna Move’s question, yes, Laura and Lenny are divorced. ☹ (Somehow, I need to teach that woman how to keep a man.)

A change of plans. Teresa wants me to go with her when she goes for her monthly medication. I guess that means I’ll be having coffee while she’s waiting in Clinica Las Americas. Then we’ll have lunch in Arkadia mall, probably Crepes & Waffles.

I was giving myself a “sponge bath” in the cold water of the shower. I turned off the water for a second then turned it back on and darn if 15 seconds later I had hot water. 😊 I turned it off a couple minutes later when the sound changed as I was sure cold water was on the way.

I was lying on the recliner, put the baseball cap over my eyes and fell asleep for 30 minutes. Now I should be good for the day.

I stopped at the Pasteur pharmacy and bought a couple boxes of Colombian band-aids then met Marcos for coffee at Parva at 9:30. He’s excited for me and says it will be a trip we’ll never forget.

My TimeShifter app to help control jet lag starts Sunday and suggests when to have caffeine, take melatonin and how much light to be exposed to.

The Chicago Bears first game of the new season is against the Green Bay Packers at 3:25 (CDST) on Sunday, September 10^th which will be 11:25pm in Greece and we’ll be on the cruise ship. I figure the best time to watch the game will be to play a DAZN recording about 48 hours later when we’ll be flying back to Madrid.

Teresa and I left the apt at 10:45 and took a Didi to Clinica Las Americas. The MetroPlus construction around Aguacatala is finished and traffic moved smoothly.

I had a latte in De Lolita café while Teresa was picking up her medicine. This time it went fast and she was out about 30 minutes later. She had a latte and we shared a polito de queso as she was hungry. She told me the clinic is no longer requiring facemasks.

We went to Arkadia mall where Teresa found a nice dress, in the colors of the Greek flag, in Ela for 259,900 pesos ($64).

We had lunch in Crepes & Waffles. I had a bowl of baked onion soup and chicken breast with cheese on a crepe. This is the roof of Pricesmart across the street with all the solar panels installed.

My eyes are very tired; I guess I need 9 hours of sleep every night.

Teresa said her mother was bored so we took a taxi to Viva Envigado to meet her near the entrance. She wasn’t there so Teresa called her. She was waiting for Nydia to arrive so we went to the sasteria where Teresa picked up a couple of altered dresses for 55mil. MT still hadn’t arrived and Teresa was tired so we returned to the apt by taxi.

I turned on the kitchen faucet and heard the on-demand heater come on so maybe it’s working again!? (I have been occasionally playing around with reseating the battery and resetting the switch.)

 

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Wednesday, August 23, 2023

 Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once, woke up again at 2:45, gave up getting back to sleep and got up at 3:15.

I put on ChessTV and was watching JackSarkisian solving chess puzzles. He was stuck on an easy checkmate so I sent him a message, he saw it and quickly checkmated.

I returned to bed at 4:15, took a while to fall asleep, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

I received an email from Air Europa, addressed to Teresa, that “one or more of the flights on your upcoming journey is eligible to request an upgrade. Tell us how much you are willing to pay and we will let you know if your offer is accepted before you fly”. I might have made a bid of $50 each if I was assured we would still be seated together.

Teresa informed me that for some reason the toaster doesn’t work so I’ll have to take a look at it later.

A Booking.com charge came through on USAA for $136.68. I think that must be for 2 nights in A Relaxing Beautiful Holiday Home on September 6^th through the 8^th.

A high of 80 degrees is predicted for today so maybe we’re crawling our way back to warmer weather.

For the wedding, Jeannie is expecting 60 guests from the States and 10 other friends & family from Greece.

I left the apt at 8:45 and completed my workout in Smartfit, this time completing 3 ½ minutes on the treadmill. I showered there and was in Otra Parte by 10am sipping on a latte. I left at 11am and returned to the apt.

Teresa returned at 11:15 with a bit of gossip. Apparently, Doyle, the old gringo from upstairs, got his young girlfriend pregnant. They’re now in the US so the child can be born in America. Smart move on her part.

Tomorrow after gym Teresa is going to Pricesmart with her girlfriend so I’ll be on my own for lunch. Teresa told me her gf says we should exchange Euros for Turkish Lira because things will be much cheaper to buy. We’re only going to be in Turkey for 6 hours so I asked her how many Lira should I get. If I get too few than she can’t buy whatever she wants, if I get too many then I’ll be returning with Lira that are useless in Greece, Spain and Colombia. Besides, Google says most places accept US credit cards.

Then she asks me a stupid question about how can they put 70 hippopotamuses on a plane. I told her to ask Pablo Escobar. 😊

I checked the outlet for the toaster and the Ground Falt Interrupter was tripped so I just pushed the button to reset it and life is good again.

Predicted high for today is 82 degrees with little chance of rain so it looks like we’re getting back to normal.

I left the apt at 2pm. In Eduardo Madrid I found a sleeve of 2 sesame seed bagels. Perfect! I had a latte there for a couple hours part of that time working on the travel notebook. I also worked on setting up the Timeshifter app on my cellphone which is supposed to help with jet lag. I paid 13,500 pesos for my latte and the bagels.

I stopped at the little grocery store and picked up 2 bags of milk. Problem was I was halfway across the street before I realized I hadn’t paid for it. As I turned around a guy was running toward me. I apologized, paid the 7,800 pesos and returned to the apt.

Teresa had a massage from 5pm to 6pm.

I clicked on the Air Europa link and found they considered $460 (per person) a “poor” bid. 😊

On my Rappi app I changed the payment method from COP to USD but I’m not sure that will make much of a difference.

I finished reading The Truth About the Shroud of Turin: Solving the Mystery on my Nook. I first read this eight years ago and decided to read it again. I don’t consider myself particularly religious but I do believe the Shroud of Turin IS the burial cloth of Jesus Christ.

 

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Tuesday, August 22, 2023

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

The Weather Channel predicts a high of only 72 degrees today with the chance of rain increasing through the day and most threatening starting about 3pm. Instead of my usual shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt, today I wore my Quechua pants with a regular t-shirt (actually it was what I call my Where’s Waldo? T-shirt because it’s alternating wide red and blue horizontal stripes). I walked to the mall (much heavier traffic than usual).

Jose warned me he was in heavy traffic and would be late and he arrived about 20 minutes later. I showed him my leather chess wallet and my latest game with Troyclough.

I had the French toast with sliced fresh bananas and strawberries.

I had the Black pieces in the first game and I chased his king around trying to checkmate but as usual he slithered away and checkmated me on the 57^th move.

I had the White pieces in the second game and forced an endgame where he had 2 weak isolated pawns which I converted into a win when he resigned on his 37^th move.

I had the Granolada with a large latte again in Pergamino. Large lattes here get cold too quickly so I’ll try to remember to buy small ones in the future.

News flash: Laura is 99% sure she can make the trip. She has an appointment next Monday with immigration and they should put a stamp in her passport. Now she’s asking me about separate cabins as her boyfriend Peter may join us for the cruise.

In Morph I bought a neck pillow for 81mil. Actually, I got a 15% discount so it was only 69,615 pesos ($17). I returned to the apt by taxi.

Today’s iced tea was the best I’ve made so far. Why, did I put a little more lemon than usual? One of life’s unsolved mysteries.

We had rain in the afternoon and the early evening.

It’s so strange that 2 days ago it felt so summery it didn’t seem like it’d be cold again. Now it’s so cold it’s hard to believe it will be hot again.

For supper I ordered 12 pieces of fried chicken from Frisby.

I checked my Citibank account and $93.87 was charged by DAZN on August 8^th. ☹

Troyclough resigned our game increasing my rating to 1595 and lowering his to 1482.

 

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