floundersgreatadventure

Well we got some questions about mail service I Colombia and why it’s nonexistent. I already sent Val this answer so I apologize now for her having to read it again. First there is no national mail carrier down here that I can find. Second all bills are sent out by messengers that goes for any documents credit cards etc.. Third people don’t move to far from where they were born and if they do they call they don’t write. They don’t write letters is part of why the US post office has so many problems. Just like in the US maybe even more so people use cell phones and the internet. Here’s an example; Ruby’s sun Hader is living about three or four buildings away from where he was born. He’s thinking of getting married so he needs a bigger house he’s looking at a place maybe a block from where he lives now. He has two computers, Phone service, a cell phone for work and one for personal use. He knows everybody in the neighborhood and just has to yell out the window or walk across the street to the local restaurant/ store to talk to one of his friends. Hader has a good steady job and can afford to move away from the area but chooses not to. Ruby can walk around the plaza and will run into someone she knows. A friend of Jeff and Ruby lives in the US now and they’re daughter says the one thing she misses is the ability to stand on a corner and sooner or later just about everybody she knows will pass by. So as you can see mail service isn’t really necessary.   One more thing Ruby and Jeff are trying to send a small envelope containing Christmas cards to our friend so he can send them to people that we don’t have e-mail addresses for. First everything will be opened so you have to bring it unopened.  Second you need phone no. for the addressee and ID for yourself and it costs about $31 for the package which contains six Christmas cards. So that’s the story about mail service down here. It’s lunch time now so I’ll be strolling nonchalantly over to my food dish get something to eat act like it tastes horrible and walk away to take my nap ciao.

Monday and its raining so what else is new? Jeff tried to put up the video but the flip camera records in some mode that word press doesn’t use so he can’t put up the video or at least that’s the story he’s telling me. Flooding around Bogota is getting really bad. A lot of mud slides and streets flooded. I know this is not going to make a lot of people happy but this flooding happens every year at this time. I think the rest of the county should do what the mayor in Bello did and not let people build or move back into those areas. Anyhow they decorated the court yard at the apartment Ruby says we should wait until Wed. to take pictures because that’s the day everybody turns on their lights and they light these colored candles and put them outside. The street we live on is really pretty now so I can’t wait to see it when everything is lit up. The rest of the town should be lit too I think everybody has their lights up and some are on some nights and others on other nights, but Ruby says they’ll all be lit on Weds. I probably told you a lot of this already but you know how it is when you get up in years ( I’m 66 in human years).We went to mail our cards to the US for re-mailing and they made us open them all up this is why I tell people don’t mail anything to us down here because we won’t get it. Jeff is waiting for a form from Social Security for a month now he doesn’t think he’s going to get it. He hopes the embassy in Bogota can help. Well does anybody have any questions about Colombia just go to the comment section of this blog and ask and I’ll reply or post an answer on the blog. Time to eat poop and take a nap so I can keep Jeff up tonight It’s my life’s occupation

OK Val I don’t care who said it just sort of fit my mood I was in. Now Jeff and Ruby went to John concert last night it was outdoors and of course it rained. The band was under a tent and they were able to stand under awnings during the rain. Jeff had to admit they were much better than he expected. The ride up was interesting Hader drove John’s car and according to him if he ever buys a new car he’ll destroy it in 6 months. In other words he needs to go back to driving school. The town where the concert was is extremely pretty and surrounded by wealthy people all the cars being driven around town were American and much larger than the ones you see in Bello. Jeff said as the concert progressed he started to see a lot of kids around unfortunately they didn’t seem that interested I the music, which according to Ruby was Bolero. Jeff said it was really good and got the crowd up off their feet and dancing. It seem just like in America the kids are more interested in what’s happening now as opposed to the heritage that is there’s to protect and pass on. I’m going to have Jeff try and put up a video of the performance, just so you know Ruby recorded this with a flip camera so the quality isn’t the best. Time for a cat nap you know I’m not as young as I used to be and of course I’m sitting in Jeff’s boney Lap. But I’ll Be Back! Just a quick note the flip camera lodes a video format no excepted by this blog> we’ll have to see what we can do

GOOD MORNING AMERICA always wanted to do that do you guys remember Robin Williams in Good Morning Viet Nam? Did you know that he adlibbed about 20 minutes of that movie? I love that guy he’s the only human I know who’s as crazy as a cat. Well know that were all awake what’s in store for today? Ruby want to see her son John perform with the orchestra he works with tonight. They’re playing in a town known for its deserts, if you’re a diabetic this town is a place to stay away from; I think Ruby just wants to go for the deserts. If I can get Ruby to remember to bring her video camera we might have some music for you guys to listen to next time. Sense it early I really don’t have anything else to talk about right now so I’ll just slink away and leave you with this Let Them Eat Cake

Hair ball is gone let’s talk about how the weather is hurting people down here. All this rain has caused a lot flooding down here and as usual the people being affected the most are the poor people. They get it the worse because they tend to live next to the rivers or on the side of mountains where nobody else wants to live. The ones by the river make their money cleaning recyclables out of the river which by the way is very polluted .The ones in the mountains are usually farming or just live there because they built a house and nobody is telling them to leave. If there not being flooded the mountain decides to slide away. The middle class is affected if they have to move between towns on the roads because the roads especially threw the mountains are prone to mud slides. In Bello where we live one area where it used to flood all the time the mayor had the buildings torn down. Because he would tell people they couldn’t live there after it flooded and they would wait a week or so and move back in. Some would die most were homeless people looking to find a place of their own Bello is a large town and though there’s not much flooding there are a lot of mud slides. Fortunately they seem to do more property damage and inconvenience people rather than cause loss of life. Jeff and Ruby were in Medellin today to do some banking and they could see all the Christmas decorations being finished up they think they’re going to get lit this weekend When they take the train the can tell from the color of the river how much rain they got in the mountains. If the river is greenish the rain was light if it’s brown it means heavy rain in the mountains. Also they see the poor that live in the storm drains along the river. Most of these people in Colombia are that way because they have no education or have some sort of mental condition. If you try to get these people help it’s like dealing with the people of Appalachia in Kentucky they really don’t want to be bothered .The poor people in the city slums actually do all right they become street venders or entertainers and they make enough to buy food and beer. Say beer because people start drinking as soon as 12 years old. Enough of this depressing info I hope to have some better stuff to talk about next time here are some more pictures from the other night. Sorry I didn’t get them up then but I was in a hurry had that hairball to get rid of. Till next time.

Haders girl frind and her daughterthe daughter and brother