floundersgreatadventure

Jeff got up this morning and I guess he’s in a sentimental mood (or maybe just mental) and decided he was going to listen to his collection of music past. He started out with a lot of oldies compilation he has and he has a lot; not counting down loads Jeff brought about seven hundred and fifty CDs with him when we moved down here. Of course nothing newer than 5 or 6 years ago, for the newer music he listens to radio stations from America on his computer. I guess you could say the one thing he misses about America is music the download services he uses won’t let him down load anything down here; I guess they’re afraid of piracy. Right now Ruby is listening to her music on the radio so I’m suffering with stereophonic noise yippee. At his moment Jeff is listening to the Blues brother 2000 movie soundtrack album, I have to admit its pretty cool as was the movie. I will say this, the music Jeff has is pretty good especially his collection of Blues Music. He really loves the stuff and it’s really good he says it’s the music that started Jazz and Rock and Roll. I’ll have to take his word for that I don’t feel like getting into controversial discussions today as a matter of fact I think it’s time to say this is Flounder and his musical buddy Jeff saying CIAO.

Well I’m a little pissed off Ruby’s son John said there were other animals writing Blogs, and were getting paid for it and that Jeff was still poor. Well first I’m not just an animal writing a blog I’m Jeff’s best friend and resent being put in the same class as a dog. It’s a proven fact cats are smarter than dogs; you don’t see us going around begging for food. It john should understand we never got into this to make money, as soon as you do that you have people who will want to write about this or that. We choose what were going to say on particular day and we don’t get upset if nobody reads the post. We could do a political satire thing or simply discuss the news from Colombia but we have friends in other places so we wake up set down check our email and then decide what were going to write about on that day. We would write about Colombian soccer, but the teams are so bad I mean how many stories can you write about losing or tying. I think John is just jealous because he has to get up and go to work every day and Jeff and Ruby don’t and besides that we have family and each other which trumps money anytime. So John you go to work me and Jeff are going to go sit on the balcony and do nothing. This is flounder and Jeff living the good life saying Ciao.   

It’s pretty boring around here right now even though we had some horrendous rain and win yesterday and early this morning. When the wind blows around here it howls because the windows don’t seal perfectly. Now what does this have to do with Jeff and me being bored? Absolutely nothing we’re bored with the politicians saying the same thing down here and the US and then doing nothing. Boy I bet Jeff wishes he had finished college and stayed in politics he probably could have retired at thirty instead of 64. I don’t mean he would have been on a pension I mean he would have gotten elected to some small office and say around all day playing solitaire. I mean did you ever watch the TV broadcast of the congress in the US and what do you see? A bunch of empty seats and down here you see empty seats or people eating and some man or woman is standing up there giving a speech and no one is there to hear it, there are some members of the US congress that are always absent during critical votes but they don’t seem to miss their Tee times or their lunch dates. Anyhow we don’t get upset about any more we just yawn and say oh well its same old same old. Well talking about this has made me want to take a nap so this is Flounder and his buddy Jeff saying CIAO from Colombia

Have you been reading the articles claiming the death of the PC is just around the corner? Well if this is true let me ask you another question can you see Jeff (who is 6’2” tall and weighs around 200 lbs) sitting down with a tablet or smart phone to write this blog or is book. How about the guys writing the articles do you think they’re doing it on their smart phones, if they are they will be half blind and have carpal tunnel before their thirty. I know that technology is moving in that direction but until you can input accurate information by voice or thought keyboards are a necessary evil. There are several voice programs available to the general public but they haven’t figured out everything yet, I mean if you’re from the rural south the most popular program and the one considered the most accurate (Dragon Speaking), might not understand you as well as someone from NY City. There are other problems as well dealing with translation from one language to another. So despite what you might here the death of the PC is still years away so don’t listen to the sales person and get rid of your Laptop or PC just yet. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin.

Well today there is a big march for peace in Colombia; Jeff has seen a lot of peace marches back in the sixties when everybody was trying to stop the Vietnam War and he supported them because he knew there was no way to win that war the way the US was going about it. Down here he doesn’t support the negotiations for peace because he believes that the Farc stopped being a political revolutionary group and changed into a bunch of guns for hire for the Cartels. If they were a real political group they would plaster their opinions on government buildings or they would blow them up. They wouldn’t be operating and hiding in the jungle surprisingly the same area where Cocaine is produced. They would also not hurt the people they supposedly are trying to help, that are the poor peasants of the country. Jeff thinks that maybe at one time there was a real political agenda but now the politicians inside the Farc are watching the control of their military vanish and they are afraid if they don’t get what they can for themselves now they’ll be left out in the cold later. The government in the mean time is not negotiating from a position of strength, there military is not succeeding in forcing a negotiated peace. So there you have today’s rant. Jeff deplores some of the things he see’s down here but doesn’t think that the Farc has any better answers. The real losers in this mess are the dead and wounded fighters and the innocent victims of mines and bombs. Someone said and neither Jeff nor I can remember who “Stop the Madness.” Let’s hope they do it soon. This is Flounder and his buddy Jeff saying CIAO from Colombia.

Well Jeff and Ruby went shopping and got the nail clippers and my food but instead of coming right home they went to Nelida’s house to see her and El Jefe here and Ruby’s father. Now Jeff isn’t a big fan of Sancocho but if Nelida’s making it you can bet Jeff will be there for it, that’s not to say his wife Ruby doesn’t make a great one there’s just something about Nelida’s. It was a great day the weather, although a little warm was great the sky blue and as Jeff says all was right with the world. Now today I have to be careful because Jeff is going to try and corner me so he can trim my nails and the only way I’m going to let him do that is if there stuck in his hand. This will be an interesting day I know Ruby wants no part of trimming my nails although I love her she tries to ignore me as much as possible. If Hari shows up all I have to do, is cry a little and he won’t let Jeff touch me, now that’s a friend. Well that’s about it for me so this is Flounder saying CIAO and Bon Appetite from Colombia.

Well Nacional and Medellin played their game last night and if the website is up to date the game ended in a tie 0-0, which leaves no one happy. It’s one of those beautiful days down here with no clouds but it is a little hot and it’s only 10 am, which probably means we can expect some rain sometime today. Jeff and Ruby are going shopping for my food today and they better get it or there will be hell to pay. Jeff says he wants to get nail clippers so he can cut my nails, I don’t think so. It looks Jeff is going to be bleeding later, because if you think I’m getting my nails cut without a fight you crazy. Well I’m going to go sharpen my nails so I can be ready when he gets back in the mean time this Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin

I laying here on Jeff and Ruby’s bed looking out the window watching the weather on the other side of the valley, which is only about six miles away. It is raining so badly over there you can’t see the mountain, and this is typical in this valley. You’ll see lightning at night from the other side of the mountain and it will never rain where you are. You will see rain as close as a few hundred yards and it will never reach you or better yet it will be raining outside the kitchen window and the sun will be shining out the living room window. It’s pretty cool except when you want to go somewhere and you don’t know whether to bring an umbrella or shorts. It’s the price we pay for living in a tropical paradise and it sure beat winter in New Jersey. Well it’s Saturday morning and Ruby is on her way back from her friend’s house and from the looks of thing it’s raining there. I hope the Medellin vs Nacional game is on TV tonight because regular TV sucks the big one on the weekend down here. Well I feel my eyes getting tired and the thunder starting so this Flounder saying CIAO from warm Colombia.

Here comes the weekend and nothing to do but relax and enjoy it. First Ruby is off to her friend’s house in Envigado for a Mass and party celebrating her friend’s mother’s birthday. She’ll be spending the night so it looks like Jeff and I will be having a boy’s only night so get the popcorn and DVDs out. Then tomorrow is the soccer match between Medellin and Nacional hopefully whoever wins this match will be able to get their season in gear while the loser might as well go on vacation now. no as far as Sunday goes Jeff has no plans me I’m going to chill. Nothing else really happened since last time Jeff is still pissed at his bank Ruby is still tired and me I’m cool as long as there is food and water in my dishes and I can sleep in Jeff’s chair at night all is well with my world. I hear Jeff moving around the living room so I’m going to go check out what he’s up to in the mean time this Flounder saying CIAO from Colombia

Boy yesterday was a bitch I can see why Jeff hates banks. His bank shut off his debit cards and his internet access by mistake and then tried to tell him it wasn’t their fault. The bank in question is HSBC, yeah the drug money launders, anyhow Jeff got the account because a friend of his Jeff Z. was a branch manager and said look I’ll hook you up with this Premier account even though you don’t qualify it will save you money. Jeff asked him what happens if something happens Z and he don’t worry, Yeah Right. Well things are starting to get under control, but that’s why there was no post yesterday Jeff spent most of the day on the phone with the bank so that he could get money to pay his rent. To make matters worse his bank in Colombia is an HSBC bank but they don’t talk to the one in America and on top of that it was sold. Jeff has to keep a bank in the US so that he can have his Social Security check direct deposited so he may have to go to Miami in the near future to set up a new bank. I have to tell you I wish there was some way the bank could be made to pay when the screw up but even the federal government can’t touch these people so I guess I’ll just say this Flounder saying CIAO from Colombia.