Dawn

Dawn

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Thoughts from Galicia: 12.3.17

There are many beautiful plazas in Spain. The Local has a go at selecting the best here.

The EU has pronounced on the issue of the most corrupt region in Spain. Disappointingly, Galicia only came in 2nd, after – surprise, surprise – Andalucia. More here.

Changing Spain?: When I recently changed my bank, I asked my new one to deal with all the direct debits. When they sent me a form (in Galician) in respect of the municipal taxes for my house and car, I told them I'd go to the office myself, since I pass it every day walking into town. As an old hand, I naturally got together numerous potentially-relevant documents and made 2 copies of each. And I even took paper clips, in case I was told stapled documents were not acceptable. To my happy surprise, most of these proved unnecessary. The helpful young lady at the desk only wanted, first, my NIE number for the computer and then my green A4 NIE document – we Brits no longer have laminate cards. I offered her a photocopy of this but – for the best of bureaucratic reasons – she felt it necessary to go to the photocopier to make her own. On the way out, I wondered how long it would be before she and her ilk are replaced by a robot. Or at least by the facility to do this sort of thing on the phone, as in the UK. Or even via this new-fangled internet thingy.

There's been a huge brouhaha here about foreign so-called chefs mucking around with Spain's culinary gifts to the world, tortilla and paella. Last night, I took revenge on Scouse stew, adding the very Spanish items of chorizo, paprika and red wine vinegar. Not bad.

Which reminds me . . . I was disappointed to find yesterday that Trip Advisor had Liverpool as only the 3rd best UK destination in 2016, albeit up from 5th in 2015. Against that, some university study has just found that, not only are nice people happier and more successful and have more friends than non-nice folk, but that that the nicest and happiest people in the UK reside in Liverpool. Relatedly, here's 10 reasons why the city is the best in the UK. Finally, The Guardian has Liverpool as the second happiest UK city in which to work, after . . . Norwich. It all seems pretty conclusive – and accurate - to me. Doesn't have a huge amount of sun, though. As oppposed to a sunny disposition.

Finally . . . I watched a PBS documentary on the rise of Donald Trump to the US presidency yesterday. The range of his distortions, boasts, exhortations, threats and downright lies was wider and even more deplorable than I'd previously thought. Belatedly, last night, I realised that - in British English, at least - we use the phrase 'trumped up' for charges and allegations that are false. Now I know why.

Today's cartoon . . . One for bloggers and writers of all sorts . . .


And, I would add, check whether your spellcheck is American or British.

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