It
seems to be the Spanish equivalent of “I was just obeying orders”.
We heard it a few times from bank directors and now we've heard it
from the director of the institution employing the nun charged
with stealing newborn babies from their mothers - “I didn't know
what I was signing. I just signed everything put in front of me.”
Pathetic, really.
Muslim
fury around the world – Here's David Aaronovitch of The
Times
making the same point as I did a few days ago, only much more
elegantly:- Of
course Muslims are not the only people whose leaders harness and
exploit the reactionary emotional power of grievance. But the idea of
“global Muslim anger” relies on the seductive trick of placing
yourself always in the position of the done-to and not the doing,
even when you run a quarter of the countries on the planet. It’s
not global anger. It’s global adolescence. As
I said, I fear it'll be many decades before maturity is reached. With
decidedly serious implications for the interim.
Following
up my trip to the doctor, I went to the pharmacy today to get the
medicines. As I'd feared, we soon ran into a problem. The computer
said some detail or other was lacking. One of the pharmacists then
spent 20 minutes waiting on a help-line, before determining – in 30
seconds - what needed to be done. And so I got my medicines, at just
under 6 euros. Compared with 130 euros the last time I got them, via
a private prescription. But there was a residual problem; the doctor
hadn't indicated the quantity of tablets, so they could only give me
one box. For one item, this meant only 10 days supply. So back I'll
have to go to the surgery tomorrow to waste more time of everyone
involved. Especially me. So thank God for iPods and BBC podcasts.
I
did try to make an appointment on line this afternoon and I'm sure it
can be done. But not by me, as – not yet having a card - I lack
some of the numbers required.
Talking
of wasting time . . . I paid my 7th
visit to the car-dealer's yesterday evening, to pick up all the
permits I need for opening my car door, driving it on the road and
getting out of the car again later. You might think my driving
licence covered all this but, No, I have to get permits from El
Tráfico.
This stuff could have been mailed to me but this isn't how things are
done in this face-to-face society. So . . .
Hi.
Here are your papers. Everything aright with the car?
Yes,
everything's fine. Except for the nice key ring you gave me.
Why,
what happened to that?
It
fell apart on the hall table.
Oh,
no!. But you're not the first person to tell me that. They're poor
quality. I'll get you another one.
No,
no. Don't bother. I'm sure I can fix it.
Yes,
you just have to use a bit of glue.
No
problem. But it does create a bad impression
Yes,
you're right.
No
prizes for guessing in which context I've recently seen a new bit
of Spanglish – Un
toples.
One
of the problems of buying and developing property in Spain is that
there are four levels of government who can take a view on things –
the municipal, the provincial, the regional and the national. For
example on how close to the sea one can build. A developer in
Pontevedra has just (re)learned this the hard way. Having got local
permissions, be bought one of the very few riverside sites not yet
occupied by a 7-storey block of flats and set about demolishing the
old salt factory there as a prelude to constructing yet another flat
block. Doubtless he felt assured that this had been going on not just
for 5 years but for 20. Unhappily for him, though, the regional Xunta
has decided it's time to protect the area around the basilica of
Santa Maria, so that “buildings in the old quarter can have a view
of the river”. Since about 95% of them don't, the words 'horse',
'stable' and 'bolted' spring to mind. To add insult to injury, the
Xunta has not only vetoed the building of flats but ordered the
developer to re-build the salt factory he'd demolished on what must
now be a pretty valueless plot of land. I almost feel sorry for him.
Finally
. . . I mentioned George Borrow's Lavengro the other night.
The book is not, it has to be said, a barrel of laughs but I found
this sentence rather amusing. Not that he meant it to be, I suspect:-
Once more I fell into meditation; my mind wandered from one thing
to the other – musing now on the structure of the Roman[y] tongue –
now on the rise and fall of Persian power - now on the powers vested
in recorders at quarter sessions.
Wonderful notion that one can suddenly start musing on the rise and
fall of the Persian empire.
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