
A friend’s inherited Rube Goldberg plumbing setup for in-floor heating. Just screams of careful, well thought-out planning and exquisite craftsmanship! (Yes, two supplemental electric pumps.)
An inquisitive old fart with a camera

A friend’s inherited Rube Goldberg plumbing setup for in-floor heating. Just screams of careful, well thought-out planning and exquisite craftsmanship! (Yes, two supplemental electric pumps.)


there’s just not a lot going on.

I can say many things about our neighbors’ remodel and addition, but few of them will involve the concept of “well thought out.” For example, the placement of the huge sliding glass doors on the only place in the wall that guarantees I look into their house every time I water my container plants (beneath chimney). And to the chimney’s left, numerous layers of shiny metallic waterproofing to counter the roof’s poor design. The lack of obvious firewood storage for the immense wood stove they installed. And the cochera (carport) rendered unusable by the intrusion of the new construction.

Not to mention a new carport that shields vehicles from the sun only kinda, sorta, in the late afternoon. The fabric roof of which didn’t do too well in last night’s wind.

More air traffic strangeness: a big circle back to approach MDV again after flying over the runway.

Zooming out, it’s clear that it did a detour as well. Why?

Forget Alexa. Forget Siri. I glanced over and the oranges were spying on us.







34°46’35.54″S 55°44’32.14″W

Piedra Lisa, once a night club. Incredible noise all night in the summer. After hours of ear-splitting sound, people would walk drunkenly through the streets at 6 AM, singing loudly and badly or simply shouting conversations because they could barely hear. Trash containers overturned, plastic cups everywhere, people passed out in the dunes.

It then became a cooperative restaurant that did not last long.

It’s a shame the local government should simply let it go to waste (though someone did remove glass).



But I don’t miss the night club.
34°46’48.94″S 55°45’8.73″W


At the point I spotted these (I was trying to guess the height of a helicopter flying quite low), one was passing directly over the other at almost right angles. Why did they both detour to fly near Montevideo instead of going directly to São Paulo?
