Author: doug
Speaking of getting it wrong
A friend pulled off the road in a quiet neighborhood of Montevideo to make a phone call. As he was talking, a local woman decided to park in back of him, something she proved incapable of doing without slowly but forcefully driving into the back of his car, trashing it.
The body repair people put the Suzuki label back on, but off-center. The next time the car went to the dealer, they were so upset that the logo was off-center — to the left — that they “fixed” it.
Could be worse (DTOTB)
We live near the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, and the water at the beach goes from being salt-free enough that the dogs will drink it, to being so salty that I can float (and I generally cannot float). Occasionally, best I can tell, the “wrong” water sweeps in, killing fish that aren’t adapted to it, which then wash up on shore. This looks a bit odiferous, and it was; I didn’t go for a walk this morning.
However, twice since we’ve been here I’ve seen the entire beach carpeted with dead fish, all their eyes pecked out by the birds.
Loverly, eh?
Maximizing inefficiency in Uruguay
Well, not long ago I praised the “hipermercado” Géant which I had previously skewered for their thoughtless shopping cart arrangement. Turns out I was overly optimistic. Next time we went, I thought I‘d grab a cart from the front of the queue.
Wrong: they want the same carts used over and over, every customer having to back one out.
At least their other store, our local Disco supermarket, had a pull-through arrangement. At least until very recently.
Now they have actually installed a barrier to prevent convenient retrieval of shopping carts. Customers now have to back their cart out into the crowded area in front of the exterior door, then jockey through the one-at-a-time entry.
Unbelievable. Almost. Because Uruguay.
Flasher frog in Parque del Plata
OK, I’m just guessing. Maybe I should say “secret agent frog.” Or maybe it’s not even a frog. When I first saw it, I thought it kind of tacky, then realized it had a constant flow of people having their photo taken with it , with the lovely river Solís Chico in the background. Good idea!
Update 20170202: “One of the most striking features of [Parque del Plata] is the monument to Sapo* Ruperto, character of children’s stories created by the Uruguayan writer Roy Berocay, who tells us from his work that his birthplace is precisely the stream Solís Chico. The person responsible for the sculpture was Nelson Capote and the monument was placed there within the framework of the 75th anniversary of Parque del Plata.” (source)
*Sapo means toad, and yes, he’s a detective.
More DTOTB*
I used to think of myself as a mountain person, and perhaps still do. I can’t wait to explore Bolivia (this week’s armchair travel :).
But my usually-daily 2-mile walk reveals a beach that constantly changes — not as much as the mouth of the Solís Chico in parque del Plata, my favorite. A couple of things it served up this morning:
* dead things on the beach
Fig report
My friend Mike has written about the weirdness of his garden this year, and asked me about our figs tree in the country. I frankly don’t pay much attention because I have no expectation of every enjoying figs from it, given the voracious wild parrots.
Alas,
the fruit is very small and the leaves are turning brown and dropping off.
¿Cambio climatico? indeed.
Look at all the kitesurfers! (oh shit, that’s my dog)
Parque del Plata, mouth of the Solís Chico. Very energetic and fun place compared to the beach in Atlántida.
Three rainbows and two suns
From the beach in Parque del Plata, where I took my new friend Mihai from Romania to see wind- and kite-surfers. The bright spot in the rainbow to the right of the sun looked, to the eye, as bright as the sun — like a sky with two suns. The rainbows were more prominent as well. Unlike any sky I’ve ever seen!
Late afternoon rainbow
I only realized it was in fact a double rainbow after looking at the picture.
