Dawn

Dawn

Monday, July 25, 2016

Ponters Pensées: 25.7.16

BlaBlaCar: Spain is reported to be the only country in which this company has had difficulties setting up. I wonder why. Could it be the usual problem of (effective) opposition from vested interests such as the bus companies? Probably.

'Involuntary' Temporary Seasonal Jobs: I'm not quite sure what these are but here are the worst (and the 'best') countries in their respect:-
Greece: 69% of all temporary, part-time jobs
Slovakia: 65%
Spain: 63%
OCED average: 19%
UK: 16%
USA: 8%
Switzerland: 8%
Norway: 6%

Why Do They Keep on Doing it?: The Director of the Traffic Department has been forced to resign - a rare event in Spain - for giving her husband's company €50k's worth of research projects without putting the work out to tender. A dedo - by the finger - as it's called here. To answer my own question, I guess it's a question of the logic used by the serial illegal parkers - Yes, there's an (increasing) risk of being done for it but the maths suggest the chances are still low.

Knowledge of Spain: Arising early this morning, I was told by my brain I'd failed to give the answers to the quiz of the other day. Though no one complained and so no one may be interested, here they are:-
1. The Catholic Church begin to distance itself from Franco's repressive dictatorship in the late 50s
2. The 1971 attempt by certain Spanish Catholic clerics to get the Church to apologise for its role in the Civil War was a failure
3. After Franco's heir apparent was blown sky high by ETA in 1973, he was nicknamed Spain's first astronaut
4. Spain's middle class was only 14% of the population in 1950. It grew by 1975 to c. 33%
5. Women were 15% of the working population in 1950. This grew by 1974 to c. 30%
6. Charlie Chaplin's 1937 film The Great Dictator was first shown in Spain in 1972

Pontevedra Dogs: During their visit 2 weeks ago, my sister and my niece insisted they kept seeing 3-legged canines. Indeed, they claimed to have seen 4 of them during one morning alone. I replied that I didn't recall seeing any in 16 years. And I still haven't. I can only conclude that having visions is a side effect of relentless shopping. Or that they saw the same (visiting) dog 4 times.

My 'Secret' Car Park: The 2 cars in front of mine yesterday had Portuguese plates. How the hell did they know about the place? Is some bugger disseminating info on the web?

Finally . . .  Unlocking Your Car: Some readers may know you can increase the distance at which the remote will do this by holding it next to your head. Honestly. Something to do with the water in your brain. Crossing a bridge last night, I wondered if I could bounce the signal over the river at a distance of 200 metres or so. Indeed I could. I suspect this won't work at low tide but will report.

GALLERY

This is yet another jewellers in Pontevedra, right next to the market, in a not-very-wealthy part of town. A genuine shop?:-


And this is 2 of our numerous beggars, arguing right in front of me last night. The skinny one - a regular - was unhappy at the other - a well-fed newcomer - plying his trade on his patch. 


The intruder asked me, rather aggressively, if I'd really taken a foto of them. Which I denied, of course. So, I hope he doesn't read this blog.

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