floundersgreatadventure

I just finished reading an article on yahoo about this young man who went 90 days without cell phone, e-mail, any social networking etc. in other words he returned to the old ways. He seemed pretty ok about said things actually worked out for the better for him he found out some friends from Facebook weren’t really friends; he hooked up with an old girlfriend, communicated in fun old fashion ways. I thought it would be fun to pose the question to my readers: Do they think they could survive without electricity? Realizing of course there would also be no gasoline or communication as we know it because there would be no batteries or generators, you could still power machines by steam and that would allow for some manufacturing . But do you think you could deal with no lights, TV, phones computers or other digital devices. You’d have to cook by wood or coal fires heat your bath water by fire and hand pump water to your sinks. Give this some thought and let me know in the comment section Ciao.

Yesterday Jeff and Ruby went to a park named Tutucan out by Rio Negro it’s sort of like Pueblito Paisa a old style country town. The difference is there is a connecting water park and Tutucan offers entertainment and lower prices. It is a little harder to get to since it requires a long drive or as in Jeff and Ruby’s case a hour long bus ride (and you know how Jeff just loves bus rides) which turned out to be not so bad on the way there and horrible on the way back. When they first entered the little simulated town they were greeted by the town idiot and then many of the other characters which we would see later in their performance. As they were waiting for the show to start the character of the local doctor came over to greet us. It turned out he spoke near perfect English and when asked how he learned he said “from watching TV and listening to music”. Jeff found this to be amazing because his grammar and vocabulary were near perfect. The rest of the performers new at least a little English and enjoyed practicing on Jeff and Ruby, they liked Jeff so much that they include him in the beginning of the show. Jeff was just glad the doctor was there to translate for him as Ruby was getting nowhere near the stage. Jeff will include some picture into this post (he took over 100) the whole album is on Facebook at least for now Jeff is debating staying there with the new mandatory time line feature. He says he’ll add a few every day for awhile until most of them are on this blog as well. The sun just came out so I’m off to mu sun spot talk to you later Ciao.

First I have to answer Val’s comment on my post 101 there are certain things that social security won’t do on-line, on telephone or E-mail so it becomes necessary to mail them. As for why there’s no post office’s in Colombia I think because people don’t move out of their neighborhoods and the directives tend to operate separate from each other they don’t see the need. For instance take your cable bill the billing is done locally so they have their own delivery service. There are a lot of options if you want to send something to someone inside Colombia but if you want to send it out of the country and make sure it gets to where you’re sending it the choices become smaller. I hope that answered Val’s question.Ciao

Off to Rio Negro today just wanted to let you know to check back later or Tomorrow morning for pictures Ciao.

Wow yesterday was my hundredth post and nobody sent me a cake or anything: Bummer Jeff had to send a letter to the social security administration in the US today, what a project first as those of you who live down here know there is no such thing as first class mail here. That was the first problem solved they went to the UPS store to send it from there, quite a bit more expensive but the letter was rather important. After giving him the address and having him check inside the envelope to make sure we weren’t sending a ton of coke (A total of ten minutes) and him checking with his superiors by phone, we were informed the address was unacceptable because it was a PO Box. Jeff was a little upset but they went home to see if there was a regular street address to send it to, of course there wasn’t. So now they had to get another envelope put the first letter in and mail to their friend Rodrigo and ask him if he would please put a stamp on it and drop it in the mail box. So now back to the UPS store and go through everything all over again after another 15 minutes it was done of course it cost around twenty two dollars to send it but that the price you have to pay. Before anyone says why didn’t you just email it? The government does not conduct Social security bus. No email they consider it to be very insecure, I think it’s better than sending mail from foreign countries, but what do I know I’m just a cat. Ciao

Its TGIF again seems like it just was just yesterday and with that comes another weekend and nothing special planned. Of course there’s always the pro bowl, but who am I kidding no watches that including the guys playing in it. Ruby said something about going to Rio Negro to visit a park up there it’s supposed to be good we’ll have to wait and see what the weather brings; it has a habit of not cooperating with Ruby. The sun just came out so maybe the weekend will turn out nice and we can go and get some good photos, it seems you readers check out the blog more when there are photos. Jeff had his cardiogram yesterday he remarked how clean and modern the facility was which didn’t really surprise him Colombia has a reputation for excellent health care. He won’t find out what the results are until he sees the doctor on the third which is Wed. next week. He doesn’t seem too concerned about it so I guess he’ll be around for awhile. This is good because as much as I like hanging with Hari he can drive me a little grazy at times when Jeff isn’t around to distract him from me. I think I’m done for now I’m going to get off this boney lap and head over to my sunspot and take a little cat nap Ciao.

PS Hey Val are you making comments because if you are now I’m not seeing them and I do so much miss you insight Hope you are well CIAO

It has come to my attention that if I post my blog in the late afternoon or early evening it gets dated as the following day in other words it looks like I’m a day behind, the present issue of my blog that I’m writing now is being done on Thursday  Jan. 26 at 10:26 am. I really don’t have anything to say at this time I just wanted people to be aware that there is a difference in time between Word press and Jeff. I’m sure that the fact that Jeff appears to be out of sync doesn’t surprise anyone. Jeff has to get ready to go to the doctor, he has to get an electrocardiogram he gets one ever year so it’s no big deal and I’ll be back later todayCiao

Here’s another day that nothing much happened Jeff went to Medellin with Hader to do banking he remarked that it’s a real shame that the buildings along the track of the Metro are so bad it looks like you’re riding through a slum. I’m sure some of the buildings are as bad as they look, but I’ve mentioned in the past that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the river view from the Metro where the garbage is falling off the banks into the river, as I’ve said in the past it will take forever to clean up. The house they could paint and clean up a little and that would improve the view as you ride by, the river side they should just build a wall it’s probably cheaper and easier than cleaning it up. On the brighter side Hari was over and has decided he likes American Blues music, he was playing guitar and dancing with the music and when the song finished he would sit and look and wait for the next one. Despite John’s misgivings I think he has real potential to be a very good musician when he grows up. Speaking of John I was asked to tell you that he actually changed Hari’s diaper today of course he needed moral support from Ruby, but he did do it. Well that’s all I got today maybe tomorrow will be more exciting Ciao.

Since nothing else is happening here a little note about Colombia Medellin, Colombia. The downside to Leon is the climate. Mornings and evenings can be pleasant, but midday temperatures are often brutal. If that bothers you, consider the mountain city of Medellin instead. This pretty city built almost entirely of red brick boasts a spring-like climate year-round. Like Leon, Medellin is an emerging retirement haven, meaning the existing expat community is small but growing and the costs of living and of renting are temptingly low. One friend is renting a small studio in a non-central neighborhood for the equivalent of $210 per month. You can rent a two-bedroom apartment in a new building at a central address for $700 or $800 per month. Ciao

I’m a little calmer now but I should mention just to be fare that dogs are a delicacy in Viet Nam as well as other Asian and South East Asian countries. I have nothing against scratching the occasional dogs face but I draw the line at eating them so maybe all you pet lovers out there should stop eating in Asian restaurants. Now that I’ve said my piece THE GIANTS WON last night to set up a repeat of 2008 Super Bowl in 2 weeks should be a great game Jeff is a Giant fan but I have to tell you I think the Patriots will win the game. Tomorrow is Juan Pablo’s first day of school at his new one in Bello I hope he likes it and improves his grades or Hader going to be pissed. He seems to really love Hader so maybe that will be incentive for him to do well I hope so. If he comes over or Ruby talks to Hader I’ll have some info on how the day went for him, time for me to go eat Ciao.