An inquisitive old fart with a camera
Alvero has retrieved the refrigerator from a block away. Did he not anticipate people would leave things in it? Were the failed Macintosh keyboards offensive? Or did someone else leave something really offensive?
I suspect the latter, but don’t expect to find out soon. I glanced through our Union Vecinal Whatsapp group but saw no mention.
Why don’t I ask, you wonder. I guess that would be because I find it potentially interesting, but also kind of so what?
The sky a couple nights ago. Two stops down, otherwise unaltered.
…that pliers grew from seeds?
I’ve gotten back into infrared saunas, perhaps ironic now that spring is here. But when I come back after it’s been warming, there’s a burning-plastic sort of smell I can’t quite place. Yesterday, a few minutes in, the sauna turned itself off. Power outage? I hit the button and it came back on. And then I heard it.
So, off to the electrical store tomorrow. Why the adapter? When we first got here, I immediately replaced the Schuko plugs on several new appliances with tres-en-linea (above). But then it occurred to me that it might void the warranty. I’ll replace the two ruined t-e-l with one Shucko.
A few sightings on the Rambla in Montevideo today
A dog walker with 12 dogs.
An apparently inexplicable design in the 1,300 meter marker (the whole beachside road/sidewalk is over 22 km long).
A manhole within a manhole. Hmmm.
In our local empty-lot-turned-park, this curious addition appeared last week, on its own concrete slab. If it looks like an old refrigerator, there’s a good reason.
But why?
I don’t know, but I decided to install a tribute to the various Mac keyboards that have died on us, partly or fully. This is three of them, retail value here (new) USD 480. I have one more to add.
In the best tradition of AppleEssence™ (Apple [planned] obsolescence) the keyboards are not repairable. I have one more to add, bringing the total to USD 640. *sigh*
Post mortem for la máquina
I rarely throw away anything that can be taken apart, without taking it apart. La máquina actually had a few challenging bits, and I had to cut apart a bit of a plastic fan to remove screws, so it remains a mystery to me as to how that part of the thing was assembled.
The gear assembly with bevel gears that change the rotation 90 degrees. Quite remarkable to imagine designing or manufacturing things like this.
And this clever spline. The rounded bit goes into the rounded indentation on the shaft, protruding a bit, and the gear slides over it, so that it has to spin when the shaft spins.
Once assembled, it’s held in place by the gear it mates to. OK, enough of this. I must have something more important to do….
Cutting a plastic barrel in half to make planters, I noticed the angle grinder (almoradora here, called la máquina by Mexicans) was slowing down. I also noticed pain in a fingertip that I couldn’t quite place.
Turns out it was heat, and moments later I saw a bright flash and smoke.
After 12 years, la maquina is dead. Long live la maquina!
I think this is my favorite sign ever. There is literally one letter of it that is completely correct: y.
Queso cacero hongos y más. Homemade cheese mushrooms and more.
Brilliant. I’ve never actually stopped at the stand. I think I need to.
UPDATE: Syd of the Dog Walks: The Keso Kasero is as bland and tasteless as all the others of the genre. She has never had fresh hongos in two or three stops we have made. Y mas is preserved morrones, hongos, too sweet jams, et al.
Last weekend there was a flurry of activity in our local park, building these things.
It’s not clear to me what they’re supposed to be, but I’ve seen people sitting on them. Maybe balance beams?
And then there’s this: a concrete block wall. What’s this all about? Well, I guess one could make the argument that I might know if I actually read the Whatsapp neighborhood group messages.
For anyone who doesn’t use Whatsapp, this means there have been 2,928 messages since I last looked. Hmmm….