The Weather in August!

Let's talk about the weather here in Uruguay.

The promised August storm may or may not have come! I can't figure it out. We have had some fierce rains dropping bucketfuls in a matter of minutes. We have had thunderstorms which have caused my ritualistic running around to unplug everything. We even had hail a few days ago. However, we didn't have them back to back for a 3 day marathon that usually signifies a real "Saintly" Tormenta, a storm front.



Instead, we have had a mix of hot, up to 73 degree F. days down to 46 degree F. days all in one week's time frame. On August 14th at 6 in the morning it was 37 degrees F.

Someone recently thought that the weather might be an interesting topic so I'll give you the following forecast for this coming week. This is based from Montevideo the capital, up the coast where I live just add a little more wind with the prediction.

Tuesday, will be cloudy and rainy but the sun is suppose to peak out.

Hi: 58 °F Lo: 53 °F Hi: 56 °F Lo: 51 °F Hi: 59 °F Lo: 49 °F Hi: 53 °F Lo: 45 °F Hi: 49 °F Lo: 43 °F Hi: 48 °F Lo: 43 °F Hi: 50 °F Lo: 43 °F

    Tuesday      Wednesday    Thursday       Friday           Saturday      
       

Hi: 48 °F Lo: 43 °F

                                                                Sunday                                                            

For the next 4 days it's suppose to rain or have a chance of rain (Tuesday-Friday). Tuesday night promises a thunderstorm. Saturday there will be sun with some small clouds (partly cloudy).  Sunday will live up to its name and be a purely sunny day with no clouds at all shown, Yet, it will also have the coldest day's temperature at 48 degrees F. It seems like, it should be the warmest day? Oh well! 

When I know that it's going to be a day with lightenings and thunders then I don't bother opening up the shutters. I don't want to get wet for a dark day. However, My house with all of its enormous windows is usually quite bright during the day and I don't need to turn on any lights. So I tend to miss the cheery atmosphere inside on dark days. 

I solved that problem last week during a thunderstorm by huddling up with my desk chair and a TV tray near my back window, the only one without a shutter (it has bars though). There the whole household gang congregated. I also pushed my little heater right up to us. I didn't want to start a full on wood stove fire because the day was oddly not cold just dreary. 

I stayed almost all day there at my make shift desk using the opportunity of staying indoors to try another attempt at figuring out the Spanish language and its many rules.

I was trying to tackle when to use the definite article "The", or in this case El, La, Los and Las (See Spanish has to have 4 the's!) and when not to use it. The dictionary started me out with a great sentence, "I like beer, but I don't like wine." (not true, I like both!) Well, in Spanish, you have to say "I like the beer but I don't like the wine. You have to use the definite article "the" with the beer and the wine because this implies you like all beer in general. In other words, nouns that are used to represent all of the thing need the definite article. The sentence would look like this in Spanish; "Me gusta la cerveza, pero no me gusta el vino."

Abstract nouns need the definite article since they represent the idea as a whole. Justice, would need "the" in front of it for La justicia.


Names of academic subjects like mathematics and physics need 'the" in front. Las matemáticas, la fisica. But not names of professions, occupations, religious or political convictions. "Mi padre es médico.", "Ella es Católica; él es comunista." (él with the accent mark means, "he" NOT "the"!)

Names of languages need 'the" in front of them for example;  el español, el francés, but not names of countries. They are considered proper nouns (like the name of a person). There are a few exceptions, of Course! Worth mentioning are; el Uruguay, la Argentina, el Brazil, la India ,el Japón, and el Peru. The names of these countries are preceded by the definite article.You are now allowed to say just United States, as it has come to be regarded as a proper noun in its own right. So you don't have to say Los Estados Unidos anymore (if you wish) but only Estados Unidos (Who knew?)

While you use the definite article with languages and academic subjects; Don't use "the" after the words hablar and estudiar (to speak and To study). For example; "Estudia matemáticas." "He is studying mathematics." and "¿Hablas español?" or "Do you speak Spanish?"

Another point regarding languages and academic subjects; Don't use "the" after the words en and de (in and of) for example; "El libro es escrito en español." or "The book is written in Spanish." 

The names of persons don't need "the" in front unless a person's name is proceeded by a title, like Mr. or General then it's; el señor Glass or el general Glass.


In general physical descriptions and body parts use "The" La cabeza (or the head) etc..


The list goes on and on. Then my lesson came around to beer again. This time I wasn't suppose to use the definite article "the" when expressing indefinite quanties. The sentence the dictionary gave me was; "no quiero vino, siempre bebo cerveza." or "I don't want (any) wine, I always drink beer." Okay, to me that seems a lot like, that first sentence about beer and wine that I started out with. So by now everything, was definitely looking indefinite. So I poured myself some wine and wondered when the thunderstorm would pass, so I could go to the store and buy beer. So much for my studying! At least, I was in my house, warm and cozy waiting out the rapidly changing weather here in Uruguay.

P.s. I didn't get this post out until Tuesday and yes, we had rain and fog today, now I'm just waiting for the promised thunderstorm tonight!

Being Thrifty!

 Thursday is feria day (farmers market day) for me and the nearby town of Salinas. We have the time slot from 8am to 12:30 pm to shop. Then this same group of vendors, they pack up and go to the city of Atlántida (5 kilometers away), reopening in that city for business from 3pm till evening, on this same thursday.

I've mentioned this farmer's market several times before in my blog because shopping at your local town's feria is a ritual, a way of life, here in Uruguay. Each town or city has their own special day, when the farmers and sellers roll into town and set up shop or in this case their stalls. 

If you miss your town's feria day, then you have to know what day a nearby town has their day on. For instance, the town of Parque del Plata has their's on friday, I believe.

Besides wanting fresh produce, people try and make it a habit to shop at a feria because the government allows them not to charge the same kind of tax as regular stores do. That's a big savings! Did I ever mention to you that our tax down here is called I.V.A. and it's 23%! I used to think that Washington State's tax was bad enough when they crept up from an 8 point something tax and went on into the 9 percent something tax rate on purchases.

While it's true that SOME THINGS are exempt from this I.V.A. tax most things are not!

Prices of items listed, generally have the I.V.A. already added to them. So you don't have to mentally go around and add 23% to everything you just know that, it's already in the price.

I used to think that milk and such basics were exempt but apparently not.

I'll give you an example from a short visit to a regular grocery store. I bought 3 bags of milk (yeah, bags not a carton or a jug) each tiny 1 liter bag of milk cost me 13 pesos each. Other brands with omega whatever s in them would cost more but I'm being thrifty so $13 (pesos) is what I spend per bag. So the 3 bags cost me a total of 39 pesos. Next, I went to the in-store butcher and bought two small Milaneses ( a breaded cutlet, I like the chicken one) for a reasonable $59 (pesos) total and I also bought 1/2 a kilo of hamburger (especial, a polite word meaning a cheaper quality) that cost me $68 (pesos) in total. Butter or manteca in Spanish just went up from $43 to $44 (pesos) for a large stick and finally, I bought some brussel sprouts that looked better in the store than at the feria and they were amazingly a little bit cheaper! The package of sprouts cost me $25 (pesos). At another store that same package was $42 pesos. It pays to shop around. So to recap, 5 items and all of it food. The bill went; $39+59+44+68+25= $235 (pesos) out of pocket. On that list of strictly food related items, nothing was exempt from the I.V.A tax. The bill showed me that the items were worth $191.09 and I paid $43.91 in tax (i.v.a.). For a total of $235 pesos.

Bottom line is that, if you don't have to pay 23% tax on something, why would you want to. I've bought dishwashing liquid at a feria for $30 (pesos) when I would have had to pay $38 at a regular grocery store. Ferias also have clothes and other non-edible items.

I've been really thrifty while Wally is away. I limit my weekly feria trip to $500 (pesos) a visit (per week). That includes the $112 pesos, I pay for a large bag of dry dog food (8 kg s.). Other known brands can cost 3 to 6 times that, but I'm being thrifty so an off named brand it has to be. If I miss my feria day than that same bag costs me $135 at a local store. I do buy a better brand for my cat (he eats less) but it costs me a whooping $101 to $107 pesos (for only a 1 Kg. bag) at a regular store.

 Some favorite items that I buy at the feria are; a little bag of dry parmesan cheese, 100grams for $11 pesos and pitted prunes at $13 pesos per 100grams. A can of whole sardines costs $27 pesos, 2 bars of soap, $27 pesos (you get a better price when you buy the two)! You get the drift. I spend roughly $125 pesos for vegetables and about $75 p's for what nots and $112 for the dog food, then with the rest of my money, I go to the regular store for a little meat and etc...  Wally could never be this regulated (read stingy) he loves to cook and eat well! Our normal budget is over 2 1/2 times that, per week. However, this current tightfisted budget of mine has allowed me to do some extra projects around my house and to pay for purchases like a dog house for Barney. Shila will soon get her own dog house.

I haven't minded my self-imposed budget, because of what I have been able to accomplished with the savings, around my house.

Recently, I learned an interesting lesson. I don't know if it's an interesting thing, a good thing or just a petty thing? If a person is on too tight a budget then you start to see money leaks everywhere.
 I have noticed however, that I also get angry when I feel, I've lost a peso or two, not the best quality.

The other day I wanted to treat myself to a Torta frita. It's like a fried tortilla or an elephant ear you would find at a country fair. Well, I noticed a man in Atlántida standing on a corner with his little cart so I went up to buy one. However, I also noticed that he was selling his fritas for $12 pesos and not the usual $10. Since I was already at his stand, I thought Okay, it's only 2 pesos more, so I ordered one. He then handed me one, already fried up, which meant it was cold and hence NOT crispy! So I paid 2 pesos more for an unpleasant taste treat. Being much more thrifty now, I have discovered that the best places to buy a HOT, fresh Torta frita, for only $10 pesos, is in front of a school. Go when the kids are being let out and you'll find a vendor selling to them at reasonable prices! I guess that was the interesting part of the lesson learned, where to find good tortas fritas!

Over a year ago Uruguay decommissioned their little silver 50 cent coin. Everything now is in dollar pesos. There are metal coins in addition to paper money but they are a $1 peso coin, a $5 peso coin and a $10 peso coin. What this means is that you can lose tiny amounts.

 As an example, I bought some more hamburger recently ( I asked for a 1/2 kilo, as usual) and the butcher put in a little extra, about $68.85 worth (i.v.a. included). When I went to pay for it, the store rounded it up to the nearest dollar or to $69 (pesos) despite the lower sticker price (because they don't have small coinage here only dollar pesos anymore! So, I should have had the butcher put in a pinch more hamburger for an even dollar amount, since I ended up paying for it anyway! I guess I have to stop thinking like a North American and not imagine that I lost 15 cents but instead remember the first Spanish phrase I ever learned here, "Es lo que hay." It is, what there is! or in other words, "It is, what it is" Another lesson learned!

I have a few more projects, I want to do around the house (like that second dog house for $1960 pesos). Things are not cheap here! However, I will soon buck up my budget so that I will not become a miserly person but just stay a thrifty one!

P.S. A Special "Thank You" to Syd and Gundy for dropping off (by my door) a primrose plant gift for my Wedding Anniversary. Sorry, that I missed seeing you!
When I inquired later about the plant, they said, they got it at the feria! Of course!

Mundane Things!

Well, It's been a while since my last blog and our readers are restless.

A friend from Washington State even wrote to give me suggestions on things to write about, in case I had writer's block.

Here is a copy of possible subjects that "D.C." from Washington suggested:

So, I'm thinking the new or old subjects I would like to hear about would be:

VW stories

Wood stove heating in detail. Tech details on stove etc. How often you 'stoke'.............

Utility expenses, power, propane, firewood, TV cable, Internet service, water,

    telephone and Cell phone, gasoline, sewer or septic.

Daily temperatures thru the years...possibly a chart.

Things you are planning to purchase in the future.

Fishing, crabbing.

Are CB radios ever used there ?

Are Ham radios popular ?

What does it cost you to send a letter to the US.

What does it cost you to make a 3 minute phone call to Seattle.

What is the difference in using a cell phone to call Seattle as opposed to land line.

Is Verizon to Verizon cell talk free as it is here ?

Where does your garbage company dispose of same ?

You have bars on your windows....explain.

Is a hot tub affordable using electricity to heat it with ?

Is alcoholism and drug use prevalent in the local society ?

What does a Best Western type motel cost in your area ?

Is prostitution a common thing in the local society ?

What would a nice VW bug cost American ?

What would the same year VW Westphalia cost ?

Ha Ha Doc, I bet you didn't think that I would take your advice so literarily but here it goes.

Using the above list as a reference, I'm going to tackle for this week's post some down to earth subjects or rather, some"Mundane" things, like the Utility expenses we pay, here in Uruguay. Bear in mind that the dollar exchange rate keeps lowering. This month (August) the exchange rate is $18.25 pesos per each USA dollar. So you can do the math.

The power company is UTE which stands for  Usinas y Trasmisiones Electricas. It is government owned so it's full title is the Administracion Nacional de etc...(see above). The power or electric bill varies month to month. The bill includes a little graph chart so you can tell what your usage was during the same month last year and the chart continues on up to the current month. I can see for instance that my highest usage is, not surprisingly, during the 3 months of our winter; July, August and September. Our wood stove has a fan that sends the heat throughout our house so since it's on almost 24 hours a day for those months it makes sense that those are the highest bills. We don't have an air conditioner for the summer months so winter is our only high season.

Some people are on plans so they choose initially when signing up, what time of day or night that they will be using the most electricity and then they have to stick to that same set time, month after month. If they go over the agreed amount they are charged or gigged a lot. Wally and I can't live with that kind of set choice or pressure so we just pay the standard fees. Under so many kilowatts your charged so much per watt, go over that and your then charged a higher rate for the over wattage only. It doesn't matter if I decide to reverse my schedule and party at midnight or two in the afternoon, the time of day doesn't matter only the amount of watts.

For instance,  4.82kwh= $186.47
                      100kwh = $274.35
                      179kwh= $710.09

Add that up, then add some more charges called, Cargo Flijo (fixed charge) of $114.12 then throw in some tax called I.V.A; say of $282.71 pesos and add it all up. The grand total on that bill was $1568 pesos (they round up or down to the nearest peso) or $85.92, USA dollars (at 18.25 pesos per dollar). That was for the month of march, slightly before Autumn. I'm in winter now, so it will be a bit higher this month. In most Latin American countries the cost of electricity is very high.

The water company is O.S.E. It stands for Obras Sanitarios del Estado (obras means "works" in Spanish). It too has a little water usage chart. Uruguay has clean and abundant water so the bill is much more reasonable. Depending on the month and possible home projects think around $250 - $350 pesos for water. Most people in the suburbs have well water available for gardening use and lawn irrigation. You don't have to go very deep to find water but if you do go deeper then that water is usually very potable. So the cost of city water can be decreased through well usage.

The telecommunications company is Antel. It stands for Administracion Nacional de Telecomunicaciones.You get two separate bills from them. One is for internet service and the other for your landline telephone. Mobile or cellar phone plans are through other companies. Internet is about $1000 pesos, the most expensive of the two bills. You pay more or less depending on the speed you opt for. Telephone is around $200 pesos depending on usage. They give you the dates and phone call duration times (of your calls) so you can monitor the bill. As a side note, when making phone calls, house to house calls or cell phone to cell phones calls are recommended, don't mix them up, it costs more when you do.

All of these utility bills can be paid in one place, at a neighborhood Abitab center, pictured in the above title photo.

I'll quickly run through a few more bills to answer our friends' curiosity. We used to get cable TV and paid about $50 (USA dollars) a month for it, without any of those speciality channels (although we could have ordered them and paid more). We dropped it, as we now use the computer for anything we want to watch.

Gas/propane tanks used for cooking and also for some small heaters are $373 pesos a refill. You have to first buy the tank yourself (on your own) somewhere. An empty tank can cost in the neighborhood of $2500 to $3000 pesos, then you buy the fill for $373. I remember buying a pretty gold tank, when they came to bring me my gas order fill, they took it away and gave me one of the companies' old blue tanks. They bring a pre-filled tank to you, so don't bother buying a good tank you'll never see it again anyway!

Firewood, I feel that I got "taken or gipped" on my last purchase of $2800 pesos per cord of wood, for Eucalyptus wood. An expat in Atlántida (a nearby town) has since given me an ad for firewood and a telephone number that I'm going to call and sometime this month I'll will try for it's price of $2400 pesos a cord. I will also request smaller pieces from them. I will probably go in person to see them as my telephone Spanish skills are not great.

We have a septic system it can run depending on the company you call anywhere from $600 pesos to $800 to empty. We have a very large one so about every 6 months we call for removal.

Gasoline, I don't know the exact price per gallon or Liter here in Uruguay because I've been walking everywhere. I guess, it's around $5.00 to $6.00 a gallon ,USA dollars.

Uruguay is NOT! an inexpensive or lower place to live like, let's say Mexico. It is simply a slower paced place to live, more restful.

Okay, I am now very depressed and bored with the mention of all of these "Gastos" or expenses and their rundowns.

 I'll show you some flower photos now to cheer us up. I used to have two huge Camilla trees back in Washington State and they would bloom in February. That is about the equivalent for this month of August, here in Uruguay. We have had a sudden spell of warm weather and so the early bloomers are blooming. My Daffodils are all up and some trees are blooming, yellow puffs, as well. Here are some photos of what's coming up around me in Uruguay.

I choose the yellow flower photos because they are so sunny and happy looking!

I might not be able to address everything on D.C's list but I will, in the future, keep some of the items in mind and try and mention them in a blog post or two. This way, any of you that are interested in the more mundane things occurring in Uruguay can get your fill.

The Fort in Santa Teresa!

I thought I would continue on with another travel post. My friends Mari and Shawn have some visitors arriving next month from the USA and were wondering what sights to take in and show them. I think the Santa Teresa Fort and the national park in the Department of Rocha are worth considering!

Located 302 Kms. away from MVD (Montevideo) near route 9, in the department of Rocha, is a National Park called Santa Teresa. This park is made up of some 1050 Hectares of land with over 2 plus million trees leading down to the ocean. These trees were planted as a means of sand control. Rocha is famous for it's huge sand dunes.

The Park is free to enter. It's open year round and has cabins available for rent as well as camping spots. You have to pay and register in advance for those over night stays as only so many people are allowed in the park, this is for crowd control. Hiking trails, a small zoo/ aviary, a beautiful old plant conservatory and a rose garden (with 300 different varieties of roses) are among the park's attractions.

The Fort is run by the Military but is a museum now. To visit the fort you have to check in at the guard station and pay about $25 pesos which is around $1.50 US.

The fortress was built in 1762. Started by the Portuguese it was then captured by the Spanish who  completed its construction. It was lost for a time beneath some sand dunes for many decades and was only recently rediscovered in 1928! The beautiful bosque or woods now surrounding the fort were planted at the suggestion of the attending Archeologist Horacio Arrendondo who aided in its recovery. This was done so that the sand dunes would never again cover this place and it be lost. Because this area was buried for so long and remained untouched, it is a rich archeological and anthropology site.

The Santa Teresa Fort is completely walled in by a double masonry wall with corner lookout towers and cannon slots built right into this wall. Obviously the fort was built on a hill to enable its inhabitants the advantage of seeing across great distances in order to give the soldiers advanced warning of enemy troops approaching. You can see all the way to the ocean from this fort.

The fort contains a chapel, a kitchen cookhouse and a Smith shop (for tool making) besides barracks (which now houses several models of  fortresses  seen throughout Uruguay).

One can also see and walk through the Command headquarters, see an antique sword and gun collection, visit the infirmary and the Magazine (where the Amo. was kept). I even took a picture of the Latrine located along the walls top. I guess besides bullets and cannon balls raining down on your enemy, other more unmentionable things could be "dumped" onto their heads!  

The grounds inside the fort are not flat but instead are rolling hills planted with grass giving the impression of gentle waves (of lawn) You feel as if you're in a very peaceful place despite its warlike history.

The fort is very lovely to look at because it is covered with mosses that give an effect of a beautiful old quilt, a mosaic of Ocher (Yellow/orange), red, blue and green mosses grow on its walls.

I think that visiting the fort is an exceptional value for the money. Come through its giant gate and step back into time. History and beauty await.

 

 

Chilly Nights, A Short Reprieve.

I had a number of ideas for the title of this post. One was "Lady Sings the Blues." Another one was, "Oh, When the Saints Come Marching In". I guess I'll have to explain the reason for each.

"Lady Sings The Blues". As my last post mentioned, I was attacked by my own cat Nathan, that innocent looking creature in the picture above. To be fair he just wanted me to drop him when he thought that I was going to feed him to the local dog instead of carrying him past the dog to safety. My arm got infected from the puncture wounds. Now, many trips to the clinic and many doses of antibiotics later I am fine. I tend to heal very fast, so except for two tiny sore spots all is well, physically that is.

I guess the cat/clinic experience coupled with a few disappointments project-wise has left me feeling a little blue. In addition, some bitterly cold nights haven't exactly helped my temperament. It's been so cold that I even tried out our little fireplace in our second bedroom. This test run went fine for a while but the opening, the mouth of the fireplace is a little too large and it started to send periodic puffs of smoke into the room. I've since seen in some accessory catalogs for fireplaces, a strip that one can buy to add to the top of the opening to prevent this from happening. So one day, Wally can try and manufacture something similar here. As you can see from these pictures even our animals decided to huddle together for warmth.

Project-wise, I've had a few set backs as well, resulting in another blue moment for this lady (get it?)
I've been wanting to surprise Wally with a few changes to greet him on his return but with each accomplishment comes a tiny disappointment. The USA dollar has really taken a nose dive here in Uruguay which hasn't helped my saving up to spend on my projects. I've kept track of the dollar decline and it has gone down from $19.05 in April, to $18.80 in May, June saw $18.40 and now in July it's at $18.25. So by the time I've saved up for anything, I have to turn around and add more money to it before it can be completed. The cost of materials has also risen and one project was grossly under estimated by a worker that I use. However, the cost of something, "is what it is" or in Spanish "Es lo qué hay". The reason that my temperament is in the dumps is that for the first time, I'm really, really disappointed with the result of one of his projects. In fact, I think it's a lousy job and it was expensive! I'm heart sick with what I got! I'm not using his name here because normally he does great work, I'll blame the result on his new helper but...

A blue moment also came about when I tried to buy more wood for our wood stove. I believe that one should buy commodities "out of season" to take advantage of the price breaks. For example, buy a fan in winter and in this case, fire wood in summer, when there is less of a demand for it. Wally and I did that to some extent. We bought our wood a few months ago but we didn't have the space to store the entire amount of wood, we would need for the winter. So now that I have more space I went to call our regular supplier and guess what? He's no longer in the business. Normally a cord of wood is $2000 pesos with delivery and now I had to pay somebody else $2800 pesos. So okay, "Es lo qué hay" but the pieces of wood are huge! I did say that they were to be used for my "estufa de lena" or wood stove and not just a fireplace but I guess that got lost in translation. I will now have to find and pay someone to spilt the majority of them down, at least in half, for me to use them. More money out the door. The pieces are too heavy right now and they crush the embers and coals instead of igniting on fire. Who knew?

The new pieces of wood are on the left and my old, (better sized) bargain summer bought ones are on the right, boo hoo. At least, I had my friends, Luisa and her husband Jorge, to help me with the delivery.

"Oh, When The Saints Come Marching In." That was a title I was considering for this post as well. The reason is that two yearly back to back storms or "TORMENTAS" (in Spanish) are due and they are named after saints. That's definitely why I wanted a new wood delivery. The yearly "Santa Rosa" storm or Saint Rosa is due at the end of this month. A three day dousey of a storm (July 29-31, generally). It comes each year during the local festival called Santa Rosa, hence it's name and it arrives with a vengeance bringing rain and high winds.  This storm is followed on it's heels with one called, "The Santa Ramon Tormenta".  This Ramon storm occurs the first week in August. Apparently the wood I had just delivered was from this storm back in the year 2005, which killed 5 people as a result of the high winds blowing down trees. I don't think my wood personally killed anyone but rather it's from some of the trees felled by this same wind storm. Everyone made it a point to tell me of the dryness and history of my delivered wood. As an interesting side note for the past 3 days we have been experiencing another saint named period. This is a warm weather reprieve that comes before the storms. It's called Santa ??? ........... It's like an "Indian summer" we used to get up north during the fall.

Maybe when these storms, projects and my mood ends, this chilly blue period will be just a memory. Then I can look back and see the rainbow at the end of it all, like in this picture (as seen though my kitchen window) after the last storm. That being, of what I have accomplished on my own here in Uruguay.

The Clinic!

I learned a new Spanish phrase this week, it's "No hay dos, sin tres" (there is no two, without a three) or in other words, bad things happen in threes. Some people may have heard the saying, sometimes when it rains it pours! I'm feeling a bit drenched like that just now.

First of all, now that winter has started and I really need to use my wood stove, the stove's handle decides to fall off. I can shove it through the hole again but it has to be finessed into holding the door closed now. The result is that sometimes I come back into a smoke filled room when the door slips open. There nothing like getting a house nice and cozy and then having to run around opening windows in the dead of winter, to quickly air out a smoky room, burr.

 Little things are starting to act up around the house now. For instance, the door on Wally's bathroom won't open all the way, for some reason it's sagging. I thought that one of the little rocks my cat plays with had possibly gotten caught under the door, so I gently lifted it up to free what ever was impeding it. There was nothing there but I did manage in that act to unhinge the door entirely. It took me 45 minutes to finally get the heavy wood door back on to it's hinges. The door still does not open all of the way. I'll have to get a carpenter to shave the bottom off for me one day. 

Another item under the "little things bugging me" category,  is that the internet is being temperamental. I seem to have a new nemesis name Justin in the neighborhood. I've never met him but whenever he's on line my computer can't seem to establish a connection, even though my router says I am connected. He must have a curfew because I can wait him out by posting at 2 o'clock in the morning! I really wish I could be sleeping at that hour instead of waiting him out.

Oh, and by the way, did I mention I had to go to the medical clinic this week? My last straw, so to speak!

Nathan my cat, has been an inside the house cat for over a year now, since coming home scraped up several times in the past. Well, normally he enjoys looking out through, the many animal friendly windows that we have here in the house. 

He sits with his buddies, my 2 dogs and watches the goings on of the neighborhood, but sometimes he escapes. He ran out of the house Monday and then jumped into my neighbor's yard. They have dogs that gather there, so I went around to fetch Nathan. Nathan has seen several of the dogs before but as I was holding Nathan to bring him back home a new dog came up to us (not a bad dog) but Nathan freaked, like I was going to feed him to the dog. Since I wasn't going to drop him he dug his claws into me, to force me into letting him go. I have never felt such excruciating pain before. I dropped him then dropped to my knees (un molested by any dogs). Both arms were now scratched but I also had one deep puncture wound across my wrist (the part where you have to flex it). I looked at that puncture mark and could swear I saw a tendon peering back at me! By now I couldn't care less about Nathan (he had made it to a shed's roof, out of reach by a 10 foot span from our wall). I just knew that I had better get myself down to the medical clinic in Salinas.

I walked into Salinas, cursing under my breath about my cat, the entire journey.  Fortunately the Clinic was open. It's walk in hours are from 9am to 12pm then it closes for the traditional 3 hour lunch break so popular in Latin American countries. The clinic then reopens at 3 o'clock and stays open till 6pm. Mondays through Fridays. Saturdays it's open from 9 am to 12 o'clock only and it's closed on Sundays.

For 24 hour emergencies you can call an emergency phone number and believe it or not doctors will still make house calls here in Uruguay. You have to explain over the phone what the emergency is for them to come. There are also ambulance services that you can get to bring you to a hospital. Any of you living in Atlántida will be glad to know that your clinic is open to walk ins 24 hours a day.

I arrived at 3 o'clock and went to the admitting window and handed them my all important cedula card or national identity card and my health insurance card. They wrote my numbers down and my name and had me take a seat. At 10 minutes to six, I was finally called into the doctors office. I had to figure out how to tell them in Spanish that I was attacked by my own cat!

I explained that I was mainly concerned about the deep puncture mark. They had me go into another room and they washed my arm with disinfectant and then bandaged my wrist. I didn't need any stitches since it was a small wound, just deep. They told me to come back to the clinic two days later, so they could check up on my wrist.

Wednesday I repeated monday's experience (another 3 hour wait) this time however my hand was a little puffy and red. That caused some panic and I was told I would need to take some oral antibiotics and come back the next day to see a different doctor. I was given a "she's not to wait" note. So tomorrow I'm to be seen right away. They drew a line around the red spot and since I take the pills starting tonight, they will then check the outline and see if the red spot has grown or receded. If that red spot travels or  grows then they have to be more aggressive with my treatment.

I am glad, that I had the good sense to go to the clinic and that I have health insurance. The first visit was free and I only had to buy the pills on my second visit. I will see what tomorrow will bring me.

There is some good news/ bad news (for me) regarding the Salinas clinic. They are soon to be moving to a new and bigger facility near the current Español clinic on the main highway. The good news is that that new facility will be opened 24 hours unlike now, but it is also much farther away (the bad news). I won't be able to walk there any more.

Nathan the cat, spent all night and the next day, on the neighbors shed's roof (serves him right). He finally came home when the second night was about to fall. The first thing he did upon entering the house after two days stuck out in the cold was.... to use his cat box! Yeah, thanks a lot Nathan, for your concern.

The Great Squab Calamity 0f 2011

It has been some time since I posted, since coming to California to visit Dad. But I thought I would share an experience I "enjoyed" while visiting.

A couple of weeks ago, Dad decided that he would like to have squab, for dinner. Probably many people might not know what squab is.  It is a baby pigeon. Two And A Half Men had a cute episode worth watching, that mentioned squab. The Wikipedia has a nice article here. While baby pigeon may not sound like an exotic food, it is well know in French cuisine, as well as Chinese restaurants. My grandfather raised pigeons back in the 1930's and 40's. My Dad grew up eating squab on a regular basis, so it has a sense of nostalgia for him.

In the early 40's (in California) squab sold for about 15 cents a pound (a squab averages a pound), and so a group of squab raisers formed an organization called the Squab Producers of California. Grandpa Glass was on the board of directors when it was formed. They were able to band together, and standardize conditions and delivery methods and command a better price. This organization still operates, today.

So Dad drove into Modesto (the the Squab Producers of California) and purchase a dozen squabs. They are going for about $8 per pound, today and are sold frozen in shrink wrap packaging. He intends to host a party, featuring squab, so, as a test case, we decided to fix a few, and invited over a friend to act as test case. We decided to use a glass convection oven to cook the squab. This was a Galloping Gourmet" product that does a great job on chicken and would cook the squab, nicely. It leaves nice drippings in the bottom, for a fantastic gravy.

The fateful evening arrived. We had a little before dinner drink. I made a Southern Margarita (a margarita made with Southern Comfort- try it!). Soon the squabs were ready to be taken out of the cooker. The rest of the meal was ready, now I just needed to make the gravy. I had simmered the neck and gizzards for a long time, to produce a nice broth. Now I just needed to add the drippings to the pan. As I upended the heavy glass cooker (very thick glass), it slipped out of it's white handles (who knew they came apart) and I spilled drippings over the counter, cabinets, floors, myself and hardly any made it into the pan. Needless to say, I was upset. Denise, who knows just how serious I am about cooking, would have admired my reserve. I did not throw away the dinner, or set the kitchen on fire. I merely stepped into the shower for a quick cleaning, mopped up the kitchen and continued on. Everything turned out very nicely (with the exception of a very, very thin gravy).

We are now prepared to move onto a nice dinner, with some of Dad's friends. Dad has volunteered to cook the squabs, and I will take care of the side dishes. I'm kind of finished with cooking squabs. I wonder why?  I am sure that our future dinner will be nothing like the "The Great Squab Calamity 0f 2011".