Thursday, April 6, 2017

Last night it took about an hour to fall asleep but I didn’t wake up until 6:30.  I finally gave up and got up at 7am.

I watched a little of the Today show and left the apt at 9:20.  I caught a bus after only a 2 minute wait.  I arrived at Estacion Estadio at 10am, 30 minutes early, but still Jose was there.  We walked over to The Town Barber Shop where I got a haircut (minor shearing) for 18,000 pesos. 

We walked to the chess league where we checked out a chess set with my Civica card and we played 3 games while the secretary was on her lunch break.  I won 1, lost 1 and there was 1 draw.  We also analyzed our games at various stages.  Jose is going to play in an 8-round chess tournament starting next week so I might drop by sometime to see how he’s doing.  His schedule for April is:

12^th – 6:30pm

13^th – 9am & 3pm

14^th – 9am & 3pm

15^th – 9am & 3pm

27^th – 9am

We walked over to El Viejo y El Pancake arriving at 2:10 and found they closed at 2pm.  They are now back to their previous days open in that they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.  They now serve breakfast all day and also lunch starting at 11am.

We walked down Avenida Setenta (70) looking for Opera Pizza (unfortunately I had left their address back in the apt).  We settled on Medellin Burger Company and we each had their American Burger with fries and a Pepsi.  The total came to about 58,000 pesos ($20).

We walked down Avenida Setenta and at San Juan, Jose helped me check out a bicycle from their automated station using my Civica card and pin number.  The bike was a sturdy basic girls model with 3 speeds and hand brakes and a basket mounted in the front.  We said goodbye and 5 minutes later I was at Estacion Estadio where I returned the bike.  I was back at Parque Envigado by 4:30.  (Today I noticed the (integrated) charge for the bus with my Civica card was 550 pesos.)  I added 50mil to our cell phone and bought 2 bags of milk at the corner store.

Wow!  I just found a website called MobileRecharge.com where it appears I can add money to our cell phone from my laptop.  Fine print: there’s a $1.33 processing fee for adding $6.95 (20mil) to my cell phone.  That’s almost 20%.  Never mind!

T-shirt of the day: I’m sorry if I offended you with my common sense.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Well, it was an interesting morning.

Last night I fell asleep quickly and didn’t wake up until 6:30.  I think it may be because I’m being much more careful with my nightly liquid consumption.  During dinner I’ll have about a fourth glass of something rather than a full glass.  I’ll have just a sip of water with my prostate medicine half an hour after dinner.  And I’ll have my usual third of a glass of water with my sleeping pill.  I’ll do that for a while and see if that continues to work.

So, at 6:30 I got up, went to the toilet, drank a half a glass of water and went back to bed.  I felt I couldn’t get back to sleep so 20 minutes later I got up.

Now, some back story.  The sink in the master bathroom leaks so we can only use the sink in the 2nd bathroom.  The lock on the 2^nd bathroom is a little kludgy, when you push in the lock button it doesn’t always catch.  You have to push the door in a little and then push the button again to hear it click.  (The light also doesn’t work in that bathroom but that isn’t material to my story.)  I went to the 2^nd bathroom to clear my nose and wash my hands.  I noticed Laura’s bedroom door was open but I guess I thought she had already left.  I opened the door so it obviously wasn’t locked and stepped inside and saw Laura naked from behind in the shower.  She yelled “ma” and I said “no it isn’t ma” as I quickly backed out.

I left the apt at 9:30 and noticed they are now tearing up the old road section.  I was at the gym by 9:40.  I did an hour and 50 minutes and completed everything except the pulley pull down.

Back at the apt I took my shower, had lunch and left at 1pm.  I waited outside for 20 minutes for the next metro bus.  I added 20,000 pesos to my Civica card at the Envigado station.  Walking down a busy street from Estacion Hospital I heard a car busily honking its horn in traffic.  I thought it was just an impatient driver because the stoplight was green.  More drivers started to honk their horns also.  As I was passing the hospital/clinic/emergency room a honking taxi pulled in.  Someone wheeled up a wheelchair and a man from the passenger side got out and sat down in the wheelchair.  He was holding a towel against his head so I guess he was in some sort of accident.

As soon as I got to Dario’s store he told me he wanted us to play in Avenida mall.  We went up to the food court, it wasn’t crowded and we started our first game.  I had black and I first exchanged what would be my bad bishop for his good bishop.  He got his queen and rooks going down the h-file towards my king but I held him off with my queen and rook.  I managed to get 2 center passed pawns and he lost on time on his 32^nd move.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   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my game with white I played a gambit which he accepted and he got too aggressive with his knight and I made a move that threatened mate or he had to give up his knight.  Then he made another bad move and I pinned his rook against his queen with my bishop.  He resigned on his 11^th move.

He informed me that next week is “semana santa” aka holy week so we won’t play again until the 19^th.

At Envigado station I had a cold orange juice at Herman’s station.  I walked to Exito where I picked up a bottle of Kraft sweet relish and a bottle of tea for 22,000 pesos.  Waiting in line just ahead of me there was a young boy making an ass of himself over some Hot Wheel cars.  I was back at the apt by 5pm.  Nobody was there except Laura asleep in her room so I left my stuff and walked to the paper store where I printed out another chess game I found from an old CICL bulletin.  It was a 1979 championship game I won with the White pieces in 53 moves.  I stopped at a bakery and bought a churro to treat myself for winning both games today.

Back at the apt I gobbled down my churro with half a glass of milk. 

Laura left at 5:45 but I have no idea where she was going.

Teresa didn’t come back until 7:15.  She had her personal training session from 6-7pm.  She reported that the gym is very crowded in the evenings.

I think I finally figured out the Smartfit payments: The Initiation fee is 90,000 pesos but the payments are spread out over the first 3 months, the Maintenance fee is 89,000 (but MT doesn’t have to pay it because she’s a resident senior) and is paid annually (every March?) and the monthly fee is 49,900.

T-shirt of the day: I don’t like morning people.  Or mornings.  Or people.

Medellin - Tech Hub?

So How’s That Medellin Tech Hub Going?

Posted on 22. Nov, 2016 by Colin in colombia

Around 2011 and 2012 the city of Medellin, Colombia began trying to bill itself as the Silicon Valley of Latin America. It is a wealthy city on Latin American standards, so Colombians and specifically residents of Medellin had a field day with that new image to replace the whole Pablo Escobar / cocaine cartel brand.

I was always skeptical given the lack of a highly educated workforce – and by highly educated I mean computer programmers. I always thought it was more of a self-indulgent promotion of something sexy than a dispassionate decision based on cold analysis. But maybe they could import the high-level coders and start from square one. Who knows?

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The subject once came up on the now-defunct Expat Chronicles forum, and I’ll share a very interesting comment from Ajiaco, a gringo who works for a software firm based in Bogota.

This article is a bit like any other propaganda article in the foreign press about Colombia’s economic potential: it vastly overstates the case. But there is a nascent tech industry here. Colombian venture capital is only in its infancy, but lots of tech companies have gotten venture capital from the US, especially from Latino-run VC firms based out of Miami.

I work in the tech industry in Bogota, at a company that began as a Colombian startup about a decade ago. One of the most pleasant things about working for my company is that they think much more like a US company than a Colombian one. It’s all about the end result, and hierarchy exists but is rarely acknowledged. Our products are sold to companies throughout the Americas, including the US, and soon will be available throughout other parts of the world as well. It is possible to do in Colombia.

Medellin is a great town, full of good businessmen. Its quality of life crushes Bogota’s. But Bogota has the advantage of being the capital, and being the home of the vast majority of the country’s best universities. I don’t see how Medellin competes in the long term on tech.

Not exactly a condemnation, more of a mixed bag. But then Philip Beere, green-tech consultant who worked for the city of Medellin for a few years, published this bomb on LinkedIn: The Innovation Struggle of Latin America and The Medellín Marketing Machine.

My faves below.

Medellín markets itself as the most innovative in the world, in hopes of attracting start-ups, entrepreneurs, and multi-national companies.  To this end, the city constructed an innovation center; a massive LEED-certified building named Ruta N (or, Route North).  With square footage to fill, the city achieved a minor coup by signing Hewlett Packard as their anchor tenant in 2012.  The Hewlett Packard brand was intended to attract start-ups and international entrepreneurs.

So far so good. Are you a big-shot gringo eyeing MDE? Be sure to stay at an Expat Chronicles-recommended Medellin luxury apartment.

In an attempt to rebrand the city, Medellín’s mayor chases awards and recognition for the city.  This plan included bringing international concerts to the city, such as Madonna and Beyoncé, and paying millions of dollars to host the World Urban Forum.

How did the plan go?

Then, in 2012 Facebook hosted an innovative cities contest.  The contest was promoted by the WSJ and Citi.  At stake, winning the designation, “City of the Year: innovation”. The criteria was straight forward, the city with the most Facebook likes wins.  Medellín citizens were reminded to vote daily.  The plan worked, Medellín received the most Facebook votes and was declared ‘City of the Year’ for innovation.  Then followed a marketing campaign to attract entrepreneurs and innovators.

That was based on votes? I thought it was for their escalator and gondola, and the light-rail metro – that’s innovative isn’t it!

In 2015, Hewlett Packard walked away from a 15-year lease at Ruta N. This left Ruta N without an anchor tenant and international brand. Recently, Huawei committed to leasing the space previously leased by Hewlett Packard.

Shortly after Hewlett Packard’s departure, Kimberly Clark cancelled plans to construct an innovation center in Medellín, citing obstructions by local officials and a void of top-level local talent.  According to an anonymous source at Kimberly Clark, all but one of the local engineers hired to conduct research and development at the center were terminated, for what was described as and inability to perform and complete tasks to Western standards. The Kimberly Clark feedback is echoed by an OECD study, which places Colombia last in critical thinking.

LAST in critical thinking?

Facebook no longer has contests for cities and innovation. Such contests have gone away, replaced with measured approaches, such as the 2thinknow index and patent reports.  Many who were seduced by Medellín’s marketing campaign and verbal commitment to innovate, including Hewlett Packard and Kimberly Clark, have left.  Not only has Medellín lost two top brands, but the city has also lost entrepreneurs who gambled on doing business in the former city of Pablo Escobar.

And how does MDE do in the measured approaches?

The 2014 2thinknow index, ranks Medellín number 265 (out of 500 cities), just behind El Paso, Texas. In 2015, Medellín’s rank improved to 147.  A sharp improvement over 2014, but still a stark contrast to being ‘The Most Innovative City in the World’.

But they beat El Paso! Now they trail Albany …

Alan Colmenares, a Venture Capitalist from the United States, came to Medellín to sponsor Founders Institute, a tech-mentorship program. The program successfully graduated two cohorts. The business model [included] Silicon Valley CEOs [mentoring local MDE entrepreneurs], which in some cases resulted in venture capital funding.  Early success stories include Diego Benitez and his SiembraViva, and Daniel Morales and his FloresyMas…

Initially, Ruta N seemed to embrace Colmenares’ Founders Institute.  But, things came to an abrupt halt when there was a leadership change at Ruta N, which attempted to replace Colmenares’ program with one of their own. The Ruta N plan featured local businessmen as mentors instead of the Silicon Valley-based CEOs.

…

The Ruta N homegrown program has yet to produce a market proven startup.

Don’t be a dick. There’s still time!

What does Adriaan Alsema, editor of Colombia Reports and resident of Medellin, say about all this?

“The government has simply embarked on a very clever and effective marketing strategy, using the 2012 WSJ contest as a confirmation of something that never existed. Following the rigging of the contest, the government made many promises, but none of them have materialized,” Alsema said. “Things have changed, or unraveled rather, since the city began promoting itself as innovative. For a while, it looked like the local government was serious about innovation, but that was just window dressing.”

Et tu, Brute?

Instead of funneling resources into winning awards and installing billboards, there is a need to solve problems that will make the city more livable and attract and keep innovators.  Needed, policy to address severe inequality, transparency or corruption, gender equity, the environment, and hunger.  One might say, Medellín boasts a pride too strong to openly discuss these issues, and would prefer to keep the negative topics out of the innovation conversation.

And the closing thought:

Each city has its own issues that obstruct their path toward innovation. The question for Medellín and other cities, is it realistic for them to create a culture of innovation?

Read the whole article for details I completely left out.

Looks like the air was sucked out of the whole Silicon Valley of Latin America. You can feel that disappointment in 6 Things to Consider Before Moving a Startup to Medellín, which smacks of a warning for an otherwise booster of MDE.

Let’s finish on a positive note. Back to Ajiaco on the defunct forum:

I think it was mentioned in the comments of this article that there is an influx of talented Venezuelans coming to Colombia who are fed up with how things are going in their home country who are also bolstering all sorts of commerce here. It’s a huge brain drain out of Venezuela of people who don’t think the current government is working for them, and at least in some ways is working to Colombia’s advantage. It is certainly making Bogota the logical choice for local company headquarters in the northwestern part of South America. Facebook just opened an office here, and Google, Microsoft, IBM and almost every other notable tech company also has a branch here.

So let’s build on an actual strength, and in Colombia’s case that means strong cultural connection and physical proximity to the gravest humanitarian crisis and most sweeping brain drain in the history of the hemisphere. Venezuela’s nerds and Colombia’s nerds, come together and make a TECH HUB. Even if it’s not in Medellin, just make one!

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

I slept pretty well waking/getting up at 7:30.

It’s another mostly sunny day.

I left the apt at 9:45, waited 10 minutes for a metro bus, took the metro to Aguacatala station, walked across Avenida 80, caught a Circular Sur 303 bus and got off at Viva Laureles.  I walked through the mall and noticed that Cinnabon isn’t there any longer.  I met Jose Cruz at Mall Laureles.  

We played 3 chess games, I won 2 and lost 1.  I had lunch of a ranch burrito, coleslaw and mango juice for 18,600.  Afterwards we walked down to the chess league office.  Jose talked to the secretary and I learned that the carnet (FIDE license) costs 40,000 per calendar year.  My name would be in their system but to get an actual card I have to wait until I renew next January (I guess to have my photo taken) and then I’ll receive my card the following year.  (Don’t ask, this is Colombia.)  I think Jose will be playing in a tournament starting next week but I’m going to wait until the end of May for the senior tournament.  (By then Jose might be back in the States.)  Jose and I played a couple more games and I won one and he won one.  We walked to the metro station and he walked back to his apt and I took the metro to San Antonio then transferred to Envigado and took a bus to the park.  

Walking down the street I saw that 4-5 nearby blocks were without electricity including the corner store but I was surprised to see we still had electricity.  I was back at the apt by 6:45.

MT was there and Teresa explained she talked to Wilson and flights to Bogota are inexpensive but if we wait until June the price will go up so they want me to make an appointment with the US embassy ASAP.  I submitted an application for an appointment and the automatic response was that they usually respond within 5 working days.  (I sure hope we get the appointment, this has been a big pain in the butt.)

I received an email from Amazon that my other things have shipped.

Now I understand that the gym monthly fee is 80,000 (an extra 30,000 for the registration) per person for March, April and May and thereafter it’s 50,000 per month.  Sigh!  So I have to deposit another 120,000 pesos into Laura's Bancolomiba account.  

T-shirt of the day: I like cooking my family and my pets.  Use commas.  Don’t be a psycho.

Monday, April 3, 2017

Wow!  Last night I fell asleep quickly (due to outdoors/exercise?) and didn’t wake up until almost 7am (because I didn’t drink any liquids last night before going to bed?).

It’s another mostly sunny day.

I watched the first part of the Today show and left for the gym at 9:25.  While walking across Avenida Poblado I saw they had finished a section of the new roadway and it even was painted with lane stripes.  Walking through the park I didn’t see anyone playing chess.

At the gym I did my 2 hour workout.  I saw a couple ladies from Comfama had finally made the transfer to this gym.  One of them was that cute (baby face) petite (under 5’) young lady with the nice figure.  Jeison was showing her how to use the new treadmill.  A young man had asked to share one of my machines.  After he told me he’s learning English and he asked me the word in English for “compartir” and I said “to share” he told me his name is Andres.  In the locker room I said goodbye to Oscar and he said “see you tomorrow”.  I said “no, I’ll see you Wednesday.”  He said, “But today is Monday.”  I said “I know I’m not working out every day!”  We had a good laugh over that.

I saw one chess game in progress as I walked through the park.  At Avenida Poblado they had rerouted the 3 lanes of traffic onto the 2 new lanes so they could do some work on the old roadway.

I received an email that MBE in Miami has received my “tea bags” shipment without a value so I emailed them my shipping receipt.

I took a nap from 2:20 to 3:20 and surprisingly fell asleep very quickly.

I’m trying to get a handle on the maximum withdrawals and  ATM fees for each of the banks so I stopped in at Banco de Occidente but they didn’t have an ATM machine.  I stopped at Servibanca and made a withdrawal.  Then I waited in line for a few minutes at $efecty and paid the utility bill.  Then I waited in line at Bancolombia for about 10 minutes to use their automatic deposit machine.  On the way back to the apt I saw a man selling those “sailing ships in a bottle”.  I also saw a woman ahead of me with a TEL Teaching English Language t-shirt.  I started talking to her and learned her name is Mary and she teaches English to children.

Back at the apt I informed Teresa that I deposited 200,000 pesos (49,900 pp x 4 = 199,600) into Laura’s account.  Teresa told me that wasn’t the correct amount; something about having to pay 80,000 pesos per person for 3 months and something else about her mother paying less “because she was after us”.  I’m confused and I don’t think Teresa is sure about what she’s saying either so we’re going to have Jose interpret at the gym on Wednesday.

I received an email from the US Embassy in Bogota recommending that US citizens aged 1-60 get a yellow fever vaccination because of problems in Brazil but they specifically excluded 3 cities including Medellin.

I watched Cell (4.3) on Netflix.

T-shirt of the day: I prefer not to think before speaking.  I like being just as surprised as everyone else by what comes out of my mouth.

Yellow Fever Vaccination - US Embassy

The U.S. Embassy advises U.S. citizens in Colombia to carry evidence of yellow fever vaccination.  Although there has not been a single case of yellow fever diagnosed in Colombia this year, neighboring Brazil continues to experience a large outbreak.  The Colombian Ministry of Health and Social Protection has initiated a campaign to ensure all residents have been vaccinated against yellow fever.  Airlines and the media have reported confusion over which travelers need yellow fever vaccination.

The embassy recommends that all travelers between the ages of 1 – 60 years receive the yellow fever vaccine at least 10 days before traveling to areas in Colombia (see map) determined to be at high risk of yellow fever transmission. Bogota, Cartagena, and Medellin are not high risk areas.  National parks located in high risks areas may deny entry to travelers who do not have proof of yellow fever vaccination.  Airlines may request vaccination cards for passengers traveling to high risk areas, and may screen passengers for symptoms of yellow fever.  One dose of the vaccine provides life-long immunity, so boosters are not usually recommended or required.  U.S. citizens should travel with their yellow International Certificate of Vaccination.

The following individuals should not receive the yellow fever vaccine: children under the age of nine months, pregnant women, adults over the age of 60, people with a life-threatening condition, an immune deficiency, a thymus disorder or allergic to eggs.

Sunday, April 2, 2017

I woke up at 7am to a sunny, slightly cloudy day.

I think my cold is just about gone.

The four of us left the apt at 9am for a trip to Santafe.  I’ve reported on similar trips many times before so I’ll just mention a few unusual incidents.

While in their wi-fi zone I was actually able to get a connection.  I played 3 chess games with the Black pieces winning each of them.  Then the next 2 games with White I lost because I lost my internet connection.

About 5pm I was surprised to see Teresa in the pool although she was mainly hanging onto the side.  Then suddenly it was obvious she was in trouble as she was thrashing around trying to get a footing on the bottom and a hand hold on the side of the pool.  I reached in and grabbed her hand and pulled her to the side.  During her thrashing around her boobs popped out of her top but luckily only the 4 of us were around.  There was a young man sitting about 20 yards away but he was engrossed in his cell phone and Teresa’s back was to him anyway.  This is the 3^rd time in my life I’ve seen someone in trouble in the water and none of them yelled or screamed for help.  I guess they’re too much in a panic.

We were back at the apt by 8:15.

T-shirt of the day: I’m not anti-social.  I’m selectively social.  There’s a difference.