It’s that time of year…

…when Tienda Inglesa prepares for the busy summer season and lots of visitors…

…by eliminating a third of its outdoor parking for additional sales space.

Ah, Walmart

Yesterday, using my franquicia, an up to USD 200 3x per year tax-free import, I placed an order with Walmart. Not that I like Walmart, but I didn’t want to order everything from Amazon, because Amazon. Alas, within six minutes of placing the order , Walmart cancelled it.

No appeal, no explanation.

Rather than get upset with Walmart, I decided I should try again today.

Alas again, no luck with a stuffed unicorn. What’s a fella to do?

Say what?

I think it’s a language thing.

I hope it’s a language thing.

Some people…

…like all of us?

Self-service produce weighing: “Please don’t put stickers on the scale or the table.”

What else would you do with them?

Yes, she used a calculator.

Even if I’m reading some numbers wrong, I still can’t get it to add up to 586.

Touching

Had to pick something at the local pharmacy. I found it so thoughtful that, at the checkouts, they give priority to people over 60 who are pregnant.

The sign

The sign at Tienda Inglesa (Street View pic from better days) had become very faded, so they brought in a huge crane and took it down.

That thing is big! And i can promise you this is a job I would not want to have anything to do with, ever. I hope I get to see them reinstalling it.

Amazing!

This remote control is for a split (heat/AC) unit that we’ve had for 13 years or so. It had gotten to the point that the on/off button no longer functioned. I took it apart, found no moving parts and nothing dirty, so figured it was a lost cause.

Until the feria this week. There, next to the cheese sellers I go to almost every week, was a guy advertising remote control repair. I couldn’t believe it. I have never seen him before. I went home and fetched the remote control. He spent maybe ten minutes with it, disassembling, scraping, cleaning, and voilá! Ten bucks seems like a lot, and I could have gotten a universal remote control for a lot less.

But do I really want to deal with this when I only use five buttons? I think not. My solution is far more elegant.

A big-ish chunk of firewood

It was a bit of a trick getting it in there – the bed of coals was hot!

I never noticed the rust on the stove until I looked at this photo. But I’m pretty sure this is the stove’s 10th year of service, so it has certainly fared better than our first, that rusted out inside in three years (Ñuke was the brand, if you insist).

Advertising, UY style

I picked up one of those little advertising booklets. Flipping through it, a couple of things struck me. A guy advertising his transport service with a picture of a 60 year old truck.

And who could possibly think this imagery is going to inspire confidence in a locksmith?

Ah, Uruguay, es lo que hay.