An inquisitive old fart with a camera
In 2017, Uruguay issued polyester 50-peso notes.
Unlike the previous notes, which were red, these 50th anniversary notes were blue.
And ugly in a brutal sort of way. Then in 2020, the polyester notes became red again.
There must be something about the 50-peso denomination that causes impishness. In 2011, they created a ridiculous and misleading 50-peso coin that nobody wants (an earlier blog post of mine).
Cleaning our unoccupied casita is an annual event I do every five years or so, whether it needs it or not. Among stuff that’s been floating around in there since my son left seven years ago is a Mexican 1,000-peso note.
I was reminded of preparing to move to Mexico from Spokane, Washington, in a pickup truck. I had fun giving things away: on Craigslist advertised a pile of post cards from my grandmother, few of which actually said anything, sent to us kids from around the world in the 1960s. Some stamp enthusiast eagerly took them. I has a small box of coins as well. Some I gathered while working a job in West Germany that took me to 14 countries, despite my goal of leaving each with no coins, and many more, also from my grandmother, including some WWII era aluminum ones from Italy. I took those to the closest elementary school late one afternoon, introduced myself to the principal, explained how these might be interesting for geography, history, math and more, and asked if he had a 5th grade teacher who might be interested. He did indeed.
Which got me thinking. The date on this bank note is in March of 1982. What was it worth then?
Well. It turns out that the Mexican peso had been devalued 30% a month before this note was issued, and it only got worse from there.
It was a very not-good year for holders of Mexican local currency units.
Hard to do it justice with a photo: the farthest part of the beach was absolutely jammed. Today (at 6 PM) is the busiest I have ever seen the beach. The number of cars was amazing.
A huge swath of our dog walk area became scorched earth during the fire. It will be interesting to watch what grows next.
Meanwhile, while there were still spot fires burning, someone rode through on a bicycle. Go figure.
A scene from yesterday: dried stump from last year’s fire springs into flame.
The “Boo!” tree, 30 November 2017 and 20 October 2020
31 December 2021
This afternoon. Again. Last time was just over a year ago. This looks to be a lot worse.
[lost video from Daniel Machado – driving through stretch where fire jumped the highway, El Fortin]
This afternoon project: reupholster office chair because fabric torn by a certain dog who likes to jump into it when I’m gone. Can you guess which dog that might be?
I can’t decide if I’m halfway through this project, or through with it.
We visited a place in the hills below Minas, Uruguay, whose owner had taken on two brother capybaras (called carpinchos locally) from the local zoo. Apparently when they get to be too many in too small a place, they fight, and it’s ugly. The one who runs away in the first clip decided to go swimming rather than deal with the handful of humans watching at feeding time.
Apparently the owner of the property next door is also an architect who designed the addition and remodel.
I would not be tempted to hire her based on the brutally industrial aesthetic, but this morning at 10 AM, I see another reason she might not be my first choice.
It’s a measuring thing. As in measuring the length of a car before designing a place to park it in the shade.