Thursday, November 14, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, again at 5am, couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up at 5:30am.

Since I had the White pieces against yoDerek88, I decided to give him a chance to play the White pieces.

Gladiator II (7.0) is playing at 2:20pm so I think I’ll see that later. (Teresa is meeting up with a gf who is going for a mammography appointment.)

I left the apt at 8am and stopped in Pasteur where I bought a box of Tena Dia pads for 24,489 pesos ($5.50). I took an outside seat in Los Portenos where I had a latte while waiting for Marcos. He arrived at 9:15 and we discussed recent events. He leaves next week for a month in Arizona, returning on December 10^th. He asked if I want him to bring me anything from the states. I told him about Alejandro maybe buying an iPad on Cyber Monday and he could bring it to me. I asked about where I could buy a flannel shirt for cold Bogota and he suggested Decathalon, the sporting goods store. Great idea.

He left at 10am and I left at 10:30 and returned to the apt.

yoDerek88 resigned our game on the 12^th move when I was about to win a piece plus the exchange, increasing my rating 1 point to 1616.

I left the apt at 1:30 and walked to the mall in my pants, t-shirt, undershirt, and carrying a jacket, expecting excessive air conditioning in the theater if not rain later.

I recycled a bottle then went up to the 2^nd floor and bought a Preferential ticket to Gladiator II (7.0) for 8,000 pesos. They also gave me a raffle ticket to fill out for a new car. (I’ll takc care of that later.)

I made a quick trip to Decathalon looking for a flannel shirt but the closest I found was this jacket for 90,000 pesos.

Reentering the theater the guy ahead of me looked familiar.

It was Jose Avandaño who I hadn’t seen in quite some time. After he got all his snacks: 2 tubs of popcorn (one which he dumped into a bag?) and a large soda he took a seat at my table. With 30 movie viewings this year he’s already earned his platinum card for next year while I have something like 6. He looks good with some more facial hair then I remember. He says he works out at the gym 6 days a week only taking off on Saturdays. He was still waiting on a friend to arrive when I made my last trip to the restroom, claimed my free Platinum popcorn, bought a large soda and entered the theater. I had a seat in the last balcony aisle and there were maybe half a dozen others with me. The movie was good but not great and when it ended I noticed Jose sitting on the main floor.

I made a trip to the restroom, then as I was exiting the mall the coolness suggested to me that it might be raining. There were just a few raindrops as I got in the sheltered line for a taxi.

We had some rain in the evening but it had stopped by the time I went to bed.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 resigned our game on the 30^th move, increasing my rating to 1620.

 

JUST FUNNY

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 5:15, couldn’t fall back asleep so I got up at 5:45am.

Teresa made me breakfast before she goes to her 7:30am gym class in Viva Envigado.

I tried paying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fee on their website but was told it works better with Chrome. I switched to chrome and got this error “Erro CSRF 2”; I guess I’m going to need to pay in person. ☹

Teresa changed her mind and instead of gym in Viva Envigado she’s going to her regular 9:15 gym class in Mayorca.

I left the apt at 7:45 and completed my workout in Smartfit. I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for about an hour. I replaced one of the missing peanuts.

I returned to the apt at 9:15 and Teresa soon left for her gym class.

I tried again to pay the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fee but this time received a different error.

I left at 10:15 and took a Didi to Banco Sudameris in Poblado. Within a hundred yards of each other are this bank, Parmessano and Davivienda (with Inter-Col upstairs). I walked up the staircase to the bank. I couldn’t see an entrance but a guard inside motioned me to this “pod”.

You push the bottom red button and it opens and you step inside. Talk about claustrophobic, you hope it opens on the other side, which it did. I assumed this is a security service to only allow one person in at a time. Maybe it also checks for weapons. I asked if anyone spoke English but they just motioned me to the cashier. I showed her my text message from Inter-Col and asked if I could pay with US my debit card. Nope. She handed me a note that said, “3 retiros de 700,000 x cajero” and directed me outside to an ATM so I had to go through the pod sequence (beam me up Scottie!) again. With only one mistake where I had to start over, I made two withdrawals of 1,000,000 pesos each. I got a CER of 4,251 pesos/$ and the ATM fee for each was 22,500 pesos. Back inside I gave her 1,600,000 pesos and she gave me a fancy receipt.

Back outside (survived the beaming process again) I walked 100 yards to Davivienda and took the elevator up to the “main floor”. I gave the receptionist my cedula and asked to go to Inter-Col. He made a call and told me to go on up. I went up and handed Angie the receipt and she said that’s all I need to do. After I few questions I learned that 1) I should receive my Resident Visa in the next couple days. 2) I should receive an invitation to pick up my new Cedula in about 2 months. (Gringos on FB are complaining it’s taking much longer.)

Across the street I quickly caught a bus back to Envigado. After I sat down, I checked my cellphone and there was my Residency Visa. Yay! And it’s good for 5 years. I got off across from Smartfit and bought 2 bags of milk in a small store and returned to the apt.

I left the apt at 11:45 and on my way to the mall I noticed Shell has reopened the natural gas area of the station.

I recycled a few plastic bottles, printed my Residency Visa in color and walked out the south exit of Exito. I found an escalator to take me up to IKEA where I ran into the same “gym” as last time

This time I inquired, “if you’re not a fucking gym, what are you”? Of course he didn’t speak English so I repeated it in Spanish without the swear word and he said “we’re a gym”. 😊

Upstairs in IKEA I asked a guard about the store’s hours and learned they open at 9am (store, café, and restaurant). Up another level I bought lasagna (mixta), a cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee for 28,480 pesos ($6.40). There is a machine where you make your own coffee but I don’t know if they allow seconds. I put the cinnamon roll in the microwave for 20 seconds to warm it up a little. Today the A/C was too cold to stick around.

This is what their lunchroom looks like from the back corner:

When I left, I noticed this sign in another store:

It’s for a shoe company named VANS but to me it suggests, “the square root of/is the Answer”. 😊

I had a latte in Urbania and solved a few more chess puzzles. At one point a man came by and tried to sell me an ink pen. Don’t usually see that in the mall. A few minutes later a guy came by selling lottery tickets.

I left at 3:30, bought a package of napkins in Exito and went outside to catch a taxi. The driver didn’t seem to know where Eduardo Madrid bakery was so I told him to go north on Ave Las Vegas and go up the hill from McDonald’s. As we entered heavy traffic he said, “manifestacion”. I thought that meant “demonstration” and google confirmed it. A traffic policeman was blocking the turnoff to Ave Las Vegas north. I handed the driver 5mil and got out. I went up to the policeman and asked if it would be dangerous for a gringo to walk to McDonalds. He assured me it was safe and as I approached the intersection, I saw 3 taxis-wide blocking some of the lanes. I had a latte in the bakery while waiting for Teresa to arrive.

She arrived at 5:30 and we shared a chicken sandwich while she had a latte.

We left just before 6pm and returned to the apt.

Gladiator II is playing in Cine Colombia so maybe I’ll see it tomorrow afternoon.

 

JUST FUNNY

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

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

I took a Didi to Unicentro mall but traffic was so heavy I arrived 10 minutes late. Still, I had to wait 10 minutes for Jose to arrive. Jose described an experience he had with simultaneous Davivienda and Servientrega ATM withdrawals where the corresponding CER differed. We each had French toast with coffee and I got a bottle of water to go.

In the food court I had the Black pieces in the first game and quickly had an advantage but executed a combination in the wrong order and only ended up with a pawn. We agreed to a draw on the 36^th move.

I had the White pieces in the 2^nd game and this game went into the endgame but resigned on the 62^nd move.

It was only 1:15 as I ordered a Didi and made a trip to the restroom. When it was an estimated two minutes before arriving I got up while looking at my cellphone and headed to the nearby exit. A guy passed me carrying a shotgun and I quickly realized I was in a group of three Brinks guards. I quickly moved out of their way.

I took a Didi to Viva Envigado and took escalators up to the 3^rd floor. Walking near the car dealership area I noticed a store called Casa de Granjero had a window display with kittens. In Pergamino I had their large yogurt with granola, fruits and berries and a small latte.

I went downstairs to Urbania where I had a latte. I received an email from Inter-Col that showed my Visa progress as “in study” the same as I received last week. I replied to the email inquiring about that and Angie soon called me. She said my Visa application has been approved and my next step is to pay “the Ministry” 1,600,000 pesos.  I asked how to do that and she said something about I could pay in person or through their website. I asked her to email me the details which she did:

“Hello! We hereby inform you of the excellent news that the VISA application has been APPROVED.
The next step to follow is to pay the fee to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which costs $1,600,000 COP, the payment can be made in person at Banco Sudameris or online with a Visa, MASTERCARD or PSE card through the following button

Payment of the MRE Fee

By entering the following information

Application number: 029438000060492

Email: Your personal email

The last step is to register the Colombian visa and request the foreigner's ID card from Migración Colombia, we will schedule the appointment and you must pay 65 USD for the foreigner's ID card in person.  We will send you the instructions and respective documents by email.

Once the Colombian visa is authorized, you will have up to five (5) calendar days to make the corresponding payment.

NOTE: Remember to apply for your next visa two and a half months before the expiration of your current visa.

At InterCol we loved completing your process successfully, that is why we would love for you to leave us a positive review.

By leaving the review you can redeem a 5% -20% discount on your next service with us!

https://medellinguru.com/directory/intercol/#review;

If you have any questions, we are here to help.

inter-col.com TEAM

Sincerely,

Davivienda Business Tower - Of.  808

Carrera 43A Nº1 Sur - 188

Whatsapp: +17867080255”

 

I left at 3:30 and returned to the apt by taxi.

I was going through the Flipboard news feed on my cellphone when I found this:

When I was a teenager I had a neighbor, Freddy Zweifel (sp?), who must have had Dermatographia. I remember he could “scratch” his forehead and a scar would soon appear. I also remember another boy in our town who had a 6^th finger, not fully formed or functional of course.

 

JUST FUNNY

Monday, November 11, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, slept through the night, got up at 5am couldn’t fall back asleep, finally getting up at 6am. It obviously rained overnight as the streets are wet and it’s still dripping a little.

Today is another holiday, this time it’s Cartagena Independence Day and the streets are deserted as people sleep in.

A reader caught my typo from the other day. The 1.9% I published for the hotel is 19%. Mea culpa.

It’s a cold morning so I closed all the windows. That’s the main way you control the temperature here, by opening and closing windows.

After breakfast while waiting my usual hour to digest my breakfast and for it to warm up a bit outside I fell asleep on the recliner for about 30-45 minutes.

I left the apt at 8:45 and completed my workout in Smartfit. It was just slightly less crowded than usual.

I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for an hour before returning to the apt.

Teresa wants to go out for lunch but when I ask her where, it’s the usual, “where do you want to take me”? In the end we decided to take a Didi to the Provenza area of Poblado and walk around a bit until we find a restaurant. Soon I suggested La Matriarca where we have had dinner before but never lunch.

Laura sent some photos of Teresa and I via Whatsapp but it looks like we lost the original date the photo was taken so we might have to send them via email attachments.

We left the apt at 1pm and took a Didi to the restaurant La Matriarca in Poblado. Teresa chose a table in the “outside” area close to the entrance.

In the past we’ve always sat further inside.

Teresa had salmon and a beer and I had the solomito (steak) of the house and a Coke.

For dessert we had lattes and shared a slice of cake with ice cream and red sauce.

With tip the total came to 225,402 pesos ($52). We returned to the apt by Didi and our driver, Juan, spoke some English. Because he was driving a Chevy I played the following video for him

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=dinah+shore+see+the+usa+in+your+chevrolet&mid=E4BE173643BE60A54134E4BE173643BE60A54134&FORM=VIRE

and he thought it was great.

Troyclough resigned our game on the 31^st move, increasing my rating to 1615.

We watched another Netflix movie together, Dead Sea (5.2) and even though it isn’t rated very highly Teresa liked it.

 

JUST FUNNY

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, slept through the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:15.

It’s a very overcast morning and still dripping a little; hoping it will end before I leave to meet Glenn for breakfast.

Uh-oh, yoDerek88 (1081) has a strong attack against my king with his queen, rook, and bishop. If I lose this game, I’ll lose a ton of points – 20?

My friend IM (International Master) Juan Carlos Guerro Sierra is playing in the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships December 26^th to 31^st in New York. https://www.fide.com/news/3182

I left the apt just before 8:30 and walked to Sao Paulo Plaza. I was dressed in pants, warm t-shirt with sleeves, jacket and was carrying our large umbrella.

Glenn soon arrived with Bianca and thanked me again for the Thanksgiving invite and told me he would bring dessert, a pecan pie. He’s going to have it delivered but instead of carrying it here he’s going to have it delivered to our porteria. They’ll call me and I’ll go down and pick it up. He also asked me to warn Teresa that because of his stomach issues he won’t eat a lot.

When I walked back to the apt I was definitely overdressed as it had become partly sunny.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 resigned our game in 26 moves, increasing my rating to 1609.

Teresa is freaking out about her embassy interview but I told her she doesn’t need to know everything about me (like what companies I worked for in the States) just say, “I don’t know”.

I started to show Teresa the three Bogota hotels I had selected and she quickly chose the Wyndham Bogota (8.9) which is right in front of the embassy. I reserved it for our two nights but I will pay for it at the hotel. The charge for that will be about 820,820 + 1.9% VAT for an expected total of 836,416 ($195).

I enjoyed my peanuts with a Coke but not the Bears game as they are losing 13-3 at halftime. They lost 19-3, very embarrassing!

yoDerek88 (1081) resigned on the 26^th move increasing my rating one point to 1610.

I bought 2 Avianca tickets to Bogota for Thursday, December 12^th returning Saturday, December 14^th for 793,500 pesos ($183).

Teresa and I watched Don’t Breathe (7.1) on Netflix.

 

EL ARROYO

Saturday, November 9, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, finally waking getting up at 6:15.

My cedula expired today. I wonder if that’s going to affect my ability to purchase things. In a pinch I guess I could use my passport.

Teresa’s meeting her mother this morning to help her with some banking so I suggested we meet in IKEA for lunch.

It was only 66 degrees at 9am when I left in pants to meet Marcos at Peccato at 9:15. He put in bids for several apartments around 900 million but they were all rejected. He’s now done looking to buy an apartment as he says prices here have gotten insane.

He left at 10am and I paid 14mil for our lattes and walked to the mall where I had a latte in Urbania waiting for Teresa to call.

A couple sat at a table next to me and fed frozen yogurt to their dog, a Bernese Mountain Dog.

A few minutes later another couple came by with their little dog and the Bernese seemed to be scared of it. I only started recording after it had back away.

Teresa called at 11:45 and asked me to meet het and her mother in the Ikea restaurant. I paid for my latte, made a quick trip to the restroom then found them waiting for me in Ikea. Today it wasn’t freezing like before so I didn’t need the jacket I had brought.  They had their salmon and I got the meatballs again with mashed potatoes and gravy. Instead of peas I tried to substitute their mixed vegetable but was refused. I tried their lingonberries this time and they were okay. We all shared a bottle of water and the total came to 122,400 pesos ($28) which isn’t too bad for three meals in Medellin.

I bought a bottle of my skin cream in Linea Estetica and it must have been on sale because it was only 81,000 pesos where last time I think it was 105,000 pesos. I purposely paid for it with my debit card and didn’t have any problem with my expired cedula.

Not being in a hurry, we stopped for lattes in Juan Valdez. They left to go to El Tesoro and I returned to the apt by taxi.

I completed more chess puzzles in my book and watched the news the rest of the evening.

Teresa returned at 6:30 and I reminded her tomorrow I’m having breakfast with Glenn and my game starts at 1pm.

It rained all evening and was still raining when I went to bed at 10pm.

 

EL ARROYO

Friday, November 8, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night, finally waking getting up at 6:15.

Just after 7am it started raining ☹ thwarting my eagerness to go to the gym. I’m waiting my usual 1 hour after breakfast so as long as it ends by 8am I’m going to wait it out.

Finally, the rain stopped and I left at 9:15 finishing my workout just after 10am. I had a latte in Ganso y Castor for an hour. Btw, I replaced peanuts in all the previous locations.

I completed another couple courses in Noel Studer’s Next Level Training. Almost finished with the first go around.

Teresa tells me she wants to go to Zara in El Tesoro this afternoon.

Do they have fire drills here? Just after 2pm I heard what sounded like a tornado alarm across the street and a few people started leaving the building and I saw what looked like crossing guards with a megaphone.

I lost a game to Troyclough with the Black pieces in 59 moves lowering my rating to 1605.

When I scheduled another game against him, Chess.com suggested I play someone closer to my rating then it matched me with a player named yoDerek88 with a rating of 1081. 😊

We left the apt at 2:30 and took a Didi to El Tesoro mall. While Teresa checked out the remodeled Zara I went to Valentina’s where I had a latte and slowly worked my way through a chocolate filled Crookie (Croissant cookie combination).

Five weeks from today is Teresa’s US embassy interview, so I texted Laura asking if she can get more information, like:

·     Is there a special time we’re supposed be there?

·     Is there a special entrance we’re supposed to use?

·     What should she bring with her to the interview?

Teresa returned about 90 minutes later and proclaimed that everything in Zara was depressingly ugly (black, brown and gray). She ordered a latte and a chicken sandwich that we shared.

We left about 5:15 and there was a 30-minute wait for a taxi back to our apt. It didn’t help that it was raining.

I checked Google Flights and it looks like Avianca has almost hourly flights to Bogota so I asked Teresa what time she would want to fly out of Medellin. Since we probably won’t be able to check-in to the hotel until 3pm, we agreed on 1-3pm.

The rest of the evening I watched the news on Medellin TV.

 

EL ARROYO