A
couple of weeks ago, my lovely neighbour, Ester, told me that she was
worried about levels of radon in their basement. Essentially because
her husband had set up an office there. So she was going to arrange
for tests to be done and analysed by a lab in Santiago. Today she
came with the results. Or, rather, she didn't, as her husband
wouldn't let her see them. What she could say was that there
certainly was radon there and she suggested I carry out tests as
well. So I looked on the internet and told her that the question of
whether they needed to arrange for the installation of a
suction/ventilation system depended on the actual levels in her
basement. I suggested she get the data from her husband.
But, to be honest, she didn't look less less worried when she left
than when she arrived. Possibly because she declined a cup of tea.
To
cheer her up, I suggested she and her husband join me and some
friends for dinner in town tonight. She said all depended on whether
we would be dining early or late. I said these were relative terms in
Spain and asked her to be specific. 'Early' would be 9pm, she
replied, and 'Late' would be 10pm.
The
Spanish government has introduced a measure that limits cash
transactions to 2,500 euros. In a letter to one of the papers this
week, the writer mocked this development, saying the national sport
was getting round rules such as these. Or any rules, for that matter.
She quoted the Spanish aphorism:- Hecha la lei, hecha la trampa.
Or Come the law, come the loophole. One suspects she's not wrong.
I
see the French government opposes the British attempts to reduce the
EU budget because this would damage its ability to power-hose money
at French farmers. Inevitably, the French President wraps up his
views in the cloak of 'solidarity'. As I've said a few times, this
usually translates as 'Give us some more of your money'. Or, at
worst, 'Let us keep what we've already got.' Of course, the British
do the latter as well but I've never heard a British politician use
the weasel word 'solidarity'.
Talking
of Britain, I read about this consequence of the non-education of
kids in grammar and punctuation - Complaints
are on the increase about the standard of English in schools. Shaky
grammar, erratic spelling, misplaced apostrophes, absent commas,
ranDom Capital Letters – and
those are just the reports written by teachers. Now
a school in Ipswich is tackling the problem. Northgate High School
has advertised for a proof reader whose responsibilities will include
correcting “spelling, poor or missing punctuation, incorrect
capitalisation” and improving “poor grammar”. The part-time
worker will have to “check and amend the electronic [teacher]
reports to ensure that they are well-written and complete before
being released to parents”. You
couldn't make it up.
Finally
. . . I see the Colón(Columbus) Museum in Poio is hosting an
exhibition of 'evidence' that he was born here. I wonder if this
means I'll now be able to get into the place. Or will I still have to
find another 9 people to form a 'group'.
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