Ah, technology

Obviously things were entertaining before our recent, marvelous technological advances. But just not this kind of entertaining.

Lidenor no more.

Apparently one thing you don want to be when a forest fire comes through is a huge commercial sawmill. I’m told 55-gallon drums of wood preservative were exploding like bombs.

This is the remains of what I thought I had documented: an automated machine for chopping and splitting past-expiry wooden telephone poles into firewood.

Unfortunately, no effort was made to remove the metal mesh embedded in the ends of the poles – eucalyptus being prone to serious splitting. I took most of those pieces back to exchange for “real” firewood. I didn’t plan to ever buy firewood from them again for that reason.

In semi-related news, today is the third Thursday in a row for which rain has been forecast – and failed to materialize. It is brutally dry out there.

She

Since our neighbors opened their minimercado a year ago. their outside summer-shade sitting area has increasingly become a repository of store-related items, including this display case, which fortunately I see only when I get close to the wall.

That face. I absolutely do not like that face. The pinched smirky mouth. The eyebrows that seem raised, as if she sees something surprising in you. But not pleasant, because she’s not smiling. And those bulging eyes. Remind me of, yeah,

alleged school shooters.

And now I want to know if she’s a real person. Does she have a firearm? Is she on prescription drugs?

Insane floor tiles

Still trying to figure out why anyone would want their floor tiled in patterns that make it more difficult to navigate?

And just like that…

…we know why Tienda Inglesa has been removing cashier lines near the doors.

Another one I hope I don’t win

Flying to Qatar to cheer on Uruguay at the 2022 World Cup. And no, I didn’t win a candy basket some fifth grader sold me raffle tickets for.

Another feria bargain

They do this every day. Ya’d think….

Más ó menos ;-)

Close enough.

I asked the butcher for 4 kilos of menudos (chicken gizzards). He disappeared into the freezer, returned a minute later and plopped a bag on the scale.

Yeah, whatever 😉

Chimney cleaning

A job I am happy not to do myself. Removing the “sombrero” to clean the chimney from the top down. The other guy removes the “ceiling” of the wood stove and pulls the wire brush down. Unlike the nearby wood stove company whose owner died a little over a year ago, these guys (Tatton) insist it has to be done this way. How they navigate the roof tiles without breaking them remains a mystery to me.

¿Sin responsiblidad?

We had a small freezer delivered yesterday, and the transit company’s bill is stamped “without responsibility for breakage.” So I guess I should be grateful the delivery guy carried it in, instead of just dumping it off the truck into the driveway?

Ah, Uruguay, after twelve and a half years you continue to mystify.