Category: Atlántida

Never seen this before

flooded back yard, Uruguay

If you search this site, you can find plenty of photos of rain damage, flooded roads, etc. But the rain was so intense this morning that we actually had a couple of inches of standing water in our back yard at one point. It’s even more amazing when you consider that we live at the beach, and under the grass there lies merely a few inches of soil, and then just sand.

I’ve got some video, but I have to learn a new video editing program before I can stitch it together, so that will be a tomorrow thing.

The hose wants in

garden hose in door

This is why I never turn on the pump in our well without first locating the end of the hose. No, ’twas not I who left it pointing into our dining room. In fact, I always leave at the base of our avocado trees. But a certain curious puppy finds it a delightful thing to drag around the yard.

dog
You rang?

 

The joy of puppydom

First, a new excavation under the casita porch, which of course has inspired the other two to join in.

hole

And the stuff to chew: bones, tennis ball, remains of a garden stake, hose, broom head, tomato harvested off the plant this morning.

dog

Why, you’d be licking your lips too!

 

 

Etherchew

While the puppy has become better at not leaving nasty-cleanup morning surprises, we did find this morning, destroyed by puppy teeth,  the end of the ethernet cable that connected to the computer that we use for watching movies. My fault: I left it dangling when I moved that computer to the dining room table while my Mac Mini is the hospital, having succumbed to a panic attack.

Yes, that’s a real thing: kernel panic, where the machine decides something’s not right and shuts down. Over and over and over.

No problem. I have a crimping tool; all I had to do was pick up an Ethernet plug at the local electric store. Since it was easier to see the tiny colored wires outside in the sun, I moved the operation to the picnic table, prepared the wires, and went two meters inside the house to double check on the order of the wires, difficult to see  with certainty at the other end of the cable. If the eight little wires don’t match at both ends of the cable, ain’t gonna work.

A handy diagram on the computer reassured me that it was orange-stripe, orange, green stripe, blue, et cetera. I jotted them down, and returned outside…

repairing ethernet cable

…to find that in my absence of a few moments the puppy had severed the other end of the cable.

Rode my bike to the store (actually two; apparently I had bought the last Ethernet plug this morning at the first), and bought three plugs. One because I needed it, and two por las dudas — just in case.

It’s all good, but I think I’ll be hiding cables at night for a while.

 

Always fashionable

A couple years ago, I posted about this face cut-out sign near the tourist office in Atlántida. The artwork has changed (or maybe it was different on the other side the whole time), but nearby a newer version has appeared.

With a message: the condom is always fashionable, and advice to condom yourself this summer! (a play on words, I expect).

Yes, that is what you think you’re seeing.

I’m having some difficulty imagining to whom this might appeal, or how. Or who thought this was the best use of $3,000, much less 3,000+ condoms. Maybe I should hang out some sunny day and ask questions.

42

I sometimes think this country’s motto should be Welcome to Uruguay. Please take a number. Because everywhere you go, you take a number. Even in the feria, the street market.

number dispenser

Overall, it’s a good thing. I recall my nephew’s amazement at the civility of our ferias, compared to their chaos in Guatemala, where he taught at an international school.

In the local ferretería (hardware store), where everyone knows my name, I have for years responded “42” and waved my paper in the air when the clerk calls out my actual number, which is of course never 42.

Alas, inquiring about property taxes in the intendencia the other day, I did get number 42. But there was no line, and no number called out, no number to turn in. What a waste!

42

So why 42, you wonder? Glad you asked.

 

From asado to barbecue to…

I explained asado some time ago, the painfully slow way (from a northern point of view) of cooking meat over glowing coals. Fine when you have a group and plenty of time. When the objective is to cook something outside in hot weather, a gas barbecue grill is not perfect, but tremendously more efficient.

But the prices here are double you’d expect to pay in North America, and quality poorer, so it’s hard to justify buying one new.

You might recall we bought a used one and fixed it up.

altered BBQ grill, Uruguay

The other night, I went to fire it up, and the left burner lit up and immediately went out, as if the valve had broken. The right side hissed as if gas was coming through, but wouldn’t light. So, on to the next alternative: a single gas burner we haven’t used in years, and our largest skillet, which doesn’t have a lid (hence the pizza pan).

I might try taking off the valve and looking at it, but given the grill’s age can’t count on replacement parts. More likely the gas burner will end up inside, perhaps with a second burner. One of those projects one has to be in the right frame of mind for; hands get filthy.

UPDATE:

It’s back to looking like a plain old barbecue grill,

but under the hood it’s become a gas stove. Which means less heat inside the house!

Yes, those are bricks holding up the rear legs.